THE VALUE OF FRUIT AS A DIET.
By David Paulson, M.D.
NATURE is not so kind to us in the ripening of potatoes as she is in fruits. In potatoes nature creates raw starch, and leaves it in this condition, but this is not the case with the apple, and in this respect the apple represents the majority of fruits. Nature has done to the starch of the apple, by ripening it, what we do to the starch of grain by baking it, and, even more—and another thing as well—it has produced an acid which is antagonistic to the growth of germs. That is the reason the coating disappears from the tongue after living exclusively on fruit for a few days. The reason fruit is a good thing is because the starch has been digested by nature. It is a great deal better to let the sunshine do the digesting of starch than for the stomach to undertake it all. There are plenty of things in this world which are calculated to worry us without adding to our troubles the digestion of raw starch. It has been demonstrated by careful experimentation upon stomach fluids in the laboratory that fruit hinders the development of those particular germs that create the most mischief in the stomach. We found, however, that they flourished in beef tea—in fact, that beef tea is a perfect paradise for germs. On the contrary, when planted in fruit juices they are as thoroughly starved out by such a soil as a crop of grain would be if sown on the mountains of Gilboa, "where there is neither dew nor rain." For this reason we often place our patients on a diet of fruits for a few days. Fasting has always been considered beneficial, and this is a good way to fast; and we may sometimes extend this kind of fast a few days, until the germs are destroyed. This may require a week. The value of this discovery can not be estimated in dollars and cents. There are some very acid fruits that people with weak stomachs, and especially with hyperpepsia, should leave alone. Hyperpepsia means that there is too much acid present in the stomach, and, hence, it is not a good thing to add more. "Then," you say, "is it not a good thing to eat a large quantity of very acid fruit in hyperpepsia, which is a condition where there is a deficiency in the normal digestive fluids?" No, because the acid in fruit does not digest food, and so does not supply the deficiency. The presence of this acid rather hinders the production of the natural acid. That is one reason why it is not good to take hydrochloric acid continually. Such patients should take sub-acid fruits, such as peaches, pears, and prunes. Baked sweet apples are not very acid, and in such cases are, therefore, excellent. DAVID PAULSON, M.D.