VALUE OF APPLES

Evening Star, Issue 22688, 30 June 1937, Page 8

VALUE OF APPLES

THE FOUNDATION OF LIFE AN INTERESTING ARTICLE The following article by L. B. Skeffington is extracted from a publication entitled, ‘ Canadian Grown Apples,’ which, publication was issued by the fruit branch of the Department of Agriculture, Canada. I “ The apple, more than any other food with which we are acquainted, possesses in the highest degree therapeutic advantages. . . . It is undoubtedly this that justifies the high place it occupies in folk lore and that it should occupy in our estimation.” There you have the secret of the apple’s ancient popularity, but you do not have to accept it merely as a legend. Dr Ira A. Manville, Director of the Nutritional Laboratory of the University of Oregon Medical School, has put those legends to clinical test. “ Science at last has supplied the reason why the apple has been esteemed through the ages for its healthful properties,” he told the International Apple Association recently. Naturally, association members hold the apple in high esteem and they were ready to believe well of their favourite fruit. But the savant ignored the oft-repeated sentimental appeals and recited cold facts proved by scientists seeking only the truth. He presented statistics relating to children’s diseases. ‘ “ The success attending the use of raw apple pulp or of apple powder in milk formulate in the treatment of infantile intestinal diseases is nothing short of marvellous,” he said. Note that the doctor, a member of a professional group which usually leans over backward to be conservative, used the adjective “ marvellous.”' He recited that the death rate among children fed on cow’s milk is far higher than that of children fed on mother’s milk. To improve the lifegiving qualities of cow’s milk medical men have fortified it with apple pulp “ A careful summary of all the case histories reported shows that 1,021 children have been treated for various intestinal disorders with raw apple pulp. Of these, 1,005 showed complete recovery, while 16 failed to respond,” he said. , , ■ , This would seem to be so clearly conclusive that there is no argument. But Dr Manville throws more light on the tests: “This is remarkable when it is considered that many of the individuals receiving this type of therapy not placed on this treatment except as a last resort.” . „ In other words when other things failed, Old Doc Apple came through with flying colours! ‘ e .,, use apple powder is meeting with equal success,” according to Manville. “ Apple in the latter form is especially desirable since it exists in R capable of being stored so as to be available the year around and represents a product of uniform and known 50 When' this fact becomes generally known it may be expected the family medicine cabinet never will be without a package of powdered apple, to guard against the calamity of not being able to obtain fresh apples and apple pulp. “ When the therapeutic value of the apple is more generally recognised—and this is simply a matter of education—it will be used prophylactically as much or more than any therapeutic us© to which it may b© put,” Dr Manvillo says. , . “ I do not hesitate to say that to children in the large cities and to those living in areas where it is common for the temperatures to reach high levels and hold these levels for long periods of time, such _ methods or prophylaxis or therapeutic treatment will prove to be one of the greatest blessings of recent times. _ ’ “ The curative factors found in the apple need not be limited to children exclusively. Evidence is accumulating to the effect that adults suffering from such conditions as ulcerative colitis may be cured by the use of apple pomace or apple powder.” Dr Manville explains “ the only sugar which the body is capable of using is glucose. If other sugars are fed, they must first be converted to glucose before they can be used. This process of conversion (internal) requires time. This element of time is an important factor in conditioning tho degree to which a certain amount of sugar may be utilised by the body. . . . for this reason the Germans have classified fruits and vegetables according tu their ability to supply sugar

and at the same time not increase the concentration of the sugar in. the blood to such a degree that the excess would be eliminated in the urine. . . • Apples, beets, peaches, and nuts were found to have the highest value; pears,' bananas, oranges, and grapes were intermediate, while low values were assigned to apricots, currants, and figs.” . Apples are a source of vitamins A and C, although the vitamin potency varies with different varieties. Manvill© says: “It is the common belief that oranges are a good source of vitamin A, yet Sherman assigns to them•a value of only 20 unite (per ounce). There are several varieties of apples that exceed this value by more than 50 per cent.” “ I believe that the great increase la incidence of respiratory infections which occur in the first three months of the year can be explajned_ to a very large extent to the depletion of vitamin A reserves—results that are built up during the spring and summer by eating those foods which make their appearance during these seasons,’' Manville says. ”If an amount of diphtheria toxin which in itself is capable of killing a guinea pig is administered along with a few milligrams of crystaline vitamin C. no fatality results. The admixture of vitamin C with several lethal doses of diphtheria toxin converts the latter into a harmless product.”-