viii FRUIT RECIPES 



foods, for vegetables and fruits contain these necessary 

 salts in abundance. (See Note.) 



Fruit juices furnish the most delightful form of pure 

 water, which is too apt to be considered, in the words of / 

 the Southern colonel, "good fuh pupposes of navigation, 

 but a mighty po' drink." The fruit form of acids is re- 

 freshing; it speedily furnishes energy to the muscular 

 system — the sugar being readily assimilated — and in 

 general or directly (as with the tropical papaw and pine- 

 apple) assists digestion. Each fruit has a special and 

 some of the general values; some of them meant only as 

 accessories to other foods, as a rule stimulants and purifiers, 

 containing chiefly the carbohydrates, and must be bal- 

 anced by fats, nitrogen, or protein, and foods containing 

 more cellulose. Some fruits require very little "balancing," 

 being substantial and nearly perfect in themselves, as figs, 

 prunes, and the cocoanut, which last, when fresh, should be 

 ranked rather with fruits than nuts. The banana is a 

 substantial food, very rich in carbohydrates and "body"; 

 so also the persimmon. Grapes are nearly perfect from 

 a general point of view and the apple is unique in rank. 



Acid fruits are not always to be recommended in com- 

 bination with starchy foods, and too much acid may be used, 

 but all people are not constituted alike: uncooked fruits 

 may or may not agree with one (though in general fruits 

 are best and more direct in effect uncooked and, whether 

 fresh or cooked, should be eaten with less sugar than is 

 the usual habit) and special fruits or combinations may 

 be found undesirable. Some human beings need food 

 oftener than others or in greater quantity. Some need 

 to be reduced in flesh or the reverse. No "hard and 

 fast rules can be laid down; each one should realise the 

 value of fruits as a whole and of fruits individually and 

 should as thoroughly know his own needs. 



