Fruit for Health

Ladies' Mirror, Volume 5, Issue 3, 1 September 1926, Page 30

Fruit for Health

Of recent years, through investigation, research and experij ment, by no means always confined | to members of the medical profession, much valuable knowledge has been gained concerning the food and j health-values of various kinds of ! fruit. The lemon, formerly used chiefly | for its flavouring properties, and thought by some to be detrimental to health, has come much into prominence as a food-medicine. It is now known to be a remarkable stimulant to the liver; it also dissolves uric acid and other poisons that lurk in the human machine, and is a wonderful disinfectant. Lemon juice after it is swallowed is an alkaline, not an acid. In cases of influenza it has been proved an invaluable medicine. Even with this knowledge how few are enterprising enough to drink even half a tum- | bier a day of this simple remedy. ; It may also be used undiluted for j bathing wounds external ulcers, i boils and cuts, with remarkable heal- :■ I ing results. Even in cases of gout and rheumatism the juice of two or three lemons a day has been known to work cures. Ripe, fruit contains grape-sugar in a natural form ready for immediate human assimilation. Manufac-

timed sugar, on the contrary, has to go through a process in the digestive organs before it becomes a direct food. (jrapes contain a quantity of albumen which repairs waste tissue .and makes new tissue. 1 hey also supply some desirable food alkaline elements hacking in milk. Some of their stills, potassium and phosphates, for instance, help to keep the globulin of the blood in a healthy condition. When grapes are not obtainable til reasonable prices, raisins, sultanas, and currants are a good substitute. The old saying that an apple a day keeps the doctor away contains tin clement of truth, but scarcely goes far enough. Three or four a day would he better. The craving of children for fruit and sweets is a cry of nature, and they should he encouraged to eat ripe fruits rather than starchy potatoes, sloppy porridge, and white bread. It is doubtful whether cooking lias really benefited the human race. Certain it is that it destroys the vitamines in fruit and vegetables. If middle-aged people would turn to fruit instead of to drugs, they would save both their health and their pockets.