Tomatoes are easily digested and are refreshing. They are not well borne by some and on account of the oxalic acid they contain should not be used by those having an excess of uric acid.
Asparagus, because of its delicate flavor and appearance early in spring, is a vegetable universally liked. It is easily digested and may be eaten by invalids; they usually greatly relish it. Its particular food value lies in its sulphur and in its value as an appetizer.
Rhubarb is one of the most wholesome of vegetables and is being much more widely used. Thoroughly cooked it is digestible and a natural laxative.
Its tart flavor and appearance in early spring render it a pleasant change from the ordinary diet. Eaten in excess, like cabbage, it produces calcium oxalate in the urine and should not be eaten in large amounts by those inclined to gout.
All fresh vegetables should be masticated to almost a fluid consistency; otherwise, they are difficult of digestion, containing, as they do, so much fiber.
Fruits
Technically speaking, fruits include all plant products which bear or contain a seed. They are valuable for their acids and organic salts—citrates, malates, or tartrates of potassium, sodium, magnesium, and calcium.
They are composed for the most part of starch, sugar, water, and various organic acids, cellulose, and pectin. (Pectin is the substance which jellies under heat.) Fruits which do not contain pectin must be combined with others which do, or with gelatin, if jelly from them is desired.
The organic acids in fruits are readily split up in the body, and form alkalis. For this reason acid fruits are useful in certain acid conditions of the stomach, because they combine with the stomach acids, liberating substances which cause an alkaline reaction.