Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 20, Number 40, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 January 1899 — The Uses of Fruit. [ARTICLE]

The Uses of Fruit.

Of all the classes of nature’s edible productions, that of fruit is most pleasing to the senses. That fruit alone will not sustain life for a prolonged period Is true, but that the organic fruits and acids of fruit are necessary to the maintenance of perfect health is equally correct. Prof. A. R. Elliot (Dietetic and Hygienic Gazette) summarizes the uses of fruit as folows: 1. To furnish variety to the diet. 2. To relieve thirst and introduce watter into the system. 3. To furnish nutriment. 4. To supply organic salts essential to proper nutrition. 5. To stimulate the kidneys, increase the flow of urine and lower its acidity. 6. To act as laxatives. 7. To stimulate and improve appetite and digestion. 8. To act as antiscorbutics. Concerning the mode of preparation, ripe fruits as a rule do not need to be cooked, and are much more palatable and equally nutritious in the uncooked state. The proper time to eat fruit is either at the beginning of the meal or between meals, when they aid digestion and exert the greater laxative effect. Taken at the completion of a meal, they dilute the gastric juice and tend to embarrass digestion.—American Cultivator.