FRUITS FOR BREAKFAST
How fruits help to keep us well
Fruits as appetizers: Fruit in general has an appealing look and smell even before you get to the flavor of fruits thus your mouth "waters". The mouth's "Watering" indicates that the digestive juices are triggered, thus making the stomach ready for food as it is swallowed and digestion begins at once. Fresh fruits are better in this way than cooked or dried fruits but during the off season those are better than none.
Fruits as a laxative. Fruit has a most wholesome effect on the bowels due to both the fiber it contains and its acids. The woody fiber contained in fruits and vegetables is called cellulose. Cellulose is not digested or assimilated but it is beneficial to provide the needed bulk or roughage to eliminate waste from the intestines. (This would eliminate the need to take bulk supplements and wouldn't that be nice?)
Energy value of fruits: Fruits vary greatly in caloric value. Some fruits container a higher fuel value than others. Dried fruits are a viable alternative to fresh if you don't think you would eat fresh fast enough. They are also as good a source of energy as butter, milk and cheap cuts of meat.
According to the chart in the book you also get a LOT of fruit in 100 calories.
Mineral content of fruits: All fruits contain at least some what they call mineral ash. more than you ever wanted to know about the roll of ash in food. Milk, fruits and vegetables are our main sources of minerals in our diet. Just because you are eating enough calories does not mean you are getting you vitamins and minerals. According to the book, you cannot trust that you are getting the needed minerals if you are eating in a "haphazard fashion". The primary minerals needed are iron, calcium and phosphorus. Rasins, prunes, strawberries, blackberries, plumbs and pineapple contain more iron than some other fruits, while oranges contain more calcium than any other fruit. You can also get plenty of calcium from things like grapefruit, blackberries, raspberries, plums and pineapple. Phosphorus is also what we in our current culture would call bioavailable from many of our fruits.
There is also a footnote to this section that mentions Apricots as a source of copper. Copper in traces has been found necessary for the prevention and cure of anemia and apricots have been found to be second to liver in this important respect. So if you suffer from anemia, or your children are tested to be low in iron, I suggest trying to feed them apricots. Do NOT however feed apricots to your sheep as they cannot tolerate copper, but I digress.
Vitamins in fruits: At the time this book was written :"At the present time five vitamins are know to exist These have been designated as vitamins A, B, C, D, E. At the writing of this book much less was known about the need, use and origin of various vitamins than we know now but we are also still learning. Little was known about D and E at that time and we are really just learning more about D. But we DO know that vitamins are important as protective, regulating and growth-promoting substances. Fruits in general are a great source for vitamin C and Bs.
Vitamine C prevents scurvy. It is a water soluble vitamin so our body does not store it, so we must ingest it daily. It is an especially important vitamin for children. Heating and drying at least partially destroys it so fresh fruits and vegetables are the most reliable source. Half an orange daily is enough to supply your vitamin C needs. There is a table tha tshowes what they knew at the time of the vitamin A, B andC content in various fruits. I plan to investigate current knowledge and see what we know now.
There is also information on the industry of both drying fruit and canning various fruits.
Fruit was in some ways at the time of the writing of this book considered a luxury because of cost but the authors attempt to convince the reader that the good gained is worth any extra expense that might be found. I believe this still holds true today. The last sentence of this paragraph still holds true today, and even more so " Money spent in purchasing a regular supply of fresh fruit is economical health insurance".
The next suggestion is to buy fruit in season for not only cost but also quality. In our current culture there is some research to be done to remember when various fruits are SUPPOSED to be in season. Forced food does not usually contain the same vitamin and mineral content as naturally grown fruits and vegetables. Keep fruits that spoil easily in warm weather in the refrigerator and if you are planning to keep it a while before use purchase slightly under ripe.
Preparation and serving of food for breakfast: This section of the book is very interesting. Most of the fruits listed are served fresh but a few like baked apples, stewed apples baked pears or stewed pears are listed. Most of the suggested items would be very easy to prepare for a breakfast, added to healthy cereals that will come in a later post, or even prepared ahead of time.
As you will find in the class notes below, the reason for cooking some fruits is to soften the cellulose which may be needed especially for children, invalids or convalescents. For very young children pureeing the fruit is very necessary. If you have over ripe fruit, cooking it will stop the fermentation process as well as increase your choices in how to use the fruits.
Cooking dried fruit involves (at that time as it was generally dried on trays outside) inspecting for insects, washing well "through several waters" and soaking in water over night (with the exception of dried apples). Most fruit from there would be cooked covered until tender. Raisins, figs, dates and currents are however steamed in a double boiler.
The final section of this chapter tells us that when cooking fruit the addition of sugar retards the softening of the fiber The use of sugar with care will prevent the fruit from cooking to pieces. This can be done by either simply adding the sugar as you begin cooking or first making a sugar syrup. If you are baking or preserving fruits, especially watery ones, the sugar helps keep the shape of the fruit. If you are adding sugar merely for sweetening, add it last so as not to delay the cooking process.
My home practice for this chapter is going to be to plan and prepare fruit for my family's breakfast for a week.
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