Fruits, Their Food Value and Use in Disease. 213 



never be eaten. But I am strongly of the opinion that when properly eaten, 

 instead of causing diseases, fruits have a most beneficial effect upon the entire 

 alimentary canal, and decrease the susceptibility to intestinal diseases. 



Most of the fresh fruit juices are absolutely destructive to the bacteria that 

 inhabit the alimentary canal. Stomach fluids that contain several million bac- 

 teria to the cubic centimeter, or 151^ drops, can be entirely freed of germs in 

 about four days, if a patient will live upon nothing but fruits without sugar. 

 This same process will clean up a heavily coated tongue far better than calomel. 

 Billiousness and auto-intoxication will respond more readily to an exclusive fruit 

 diet than to pills and powders. No one class of foods tends to keep the bowels 

 ■more regular than fruits. 



In typhoid fever, per sc, I do not know of a more ideal diet than fresh un- 

 sweetened fruit juices such as strained orange and lemon juice diluted, pure 

 grape juice, grape pulp, ripe peaches, apple pulp, and, baked apples, avoiding 

 seeds and skins. The principal reason why fruits have come into disfavor as a 

 food in typhoid fever is because of sweetening with cane sugar or because of 

 giving a milk diet at the same time. Milk is a most suitable medium for 

 the prolification of bacteria and the elaboration of ptomaines, but not so with 

 fruits nor their juices, both being inimical to the growth of bacteria. 



IX SICKNESS. 



In any intestinal disorder, acute or chronic, no fruits with seeds, skins or 

 pits or fibrinous plup should be allowed. In my experience with typhoid fever 

 I never gave but one patient milk, never had a case with diarrhoea and prac- 

 tically no tympanites. 



In acute fever there is no diet that compares with fresh fruit without 

 sugar, nor a diet that the patient craves more or takes to more kindly. Fruit 

 juices tax the digestive organs little and go a long way toward keeping up 

 the strength, at the same time furnishing no fuel to feed the fever, and no 

 media on which bacteria can thrive : at the same time, also, they act favorably 

 on the liver and kidneys, and they assist in the oxidation and elimination of bac- 

 terial poisons. Aseptic foods furnish us with the most rational and scientific 

 intestinal antisepsis that can be practiced, and one that does not tax the vital 

 resistance of the patient to recover from later. 



Strawberries and lemons are especially valuable in uric acid diseases, be- 

 cause they not only contain a large amount of free acid, but are rich in potas- 

 sium, sodium and magnesium salts. The fruit acids and acids in combination 

 with salts, in the process of absorption and in the liver are oxodized, setting 

 free large quantities of alkaline salts, increasing the alkalinity of the blood. 

 :iud so supplying a most excellent solvent for uric and urates. Hence it 

 can be easily seen that fruit acids increase the alkalinity of the blood, fostering 

 a perfectly normal condition and being a normal food. The greater the alkalinity 

 of the blood the greater is its power to counteract disease. 



FOR URIC ACID DISEASES. 



The lemon cure for rheumatism is quite popular in different parts of Eu- 

 rope. Two of the most prolific sources of uric acid formation and retention in 

 the system are flesh foods and alcoholic drinks. Fresh fruits and their juices 

 will not only largely correct the disorders due to excessive meat eating, but fur- 

 nish a most excellent substitute for alcoholic drinks and lessen the desire for 

 these beverages. After eating fresh fruit or drinking fruit juice alcoholic drinks 

 lose much of thir charm. I venture to say that if fruit juices were more 

 largely used as a beverage in the home the consumption of fermented and dis- 

 tilled drinks would be greatly diminished. 



Emperor William of Germany on his recent Mediterranean trip abstained 

 from spirituous liquors and substituted carbonated water and raspberry juice. 

 He improved so much that since his return he has practically become a 



