What to eat and when

by Susanna Cocroft

Care should therefore be exercised to select thoroughly ripe fruits which have not begun to decay.

In order to reach their destination in fair condition, outwardly, many fruits are picked before they are ripe. Bananas are commonly picked green, because they decay so quickly that if they were picked ripe they would spoil before reaching the northern markets.

One test of a naturally ripened apple is to cut it with a steel knife—if the blade turns black, or if the cut surface of the apple turns brown in a few minutes, it should not be eaten, for it indicates an excess of tannin. It is this tannin which gives the small boy excruciating pains from his green apples.

It will be recalled that the tannin from the bark of trees toughens the skin of animals and forms leather. The effect on the membrane of the stomach and intestines, from the tannin in food, is not so pronounced, because of the activity and resistance of living matter.

The juice of lemons and oranges is most valuable in seasickness and scurvy, and is of benefit in nausea. A slice of lemon will often clear a coated tongue and give a refreshing sense of cleanliness to the mouth, especially in feverish conditions. Sour lemonade is one of the best drinks in summer because of its thirst-allaying qualities.

Table [III] shows that bananas contain nearly twenty-three per cent. of carbohydrates, which, in an immature state, are largely starches. The natural ripening process changes the starch to sugar, thus making them more easily digested. The starch globules, when not matured on the tree, are not easily broken and are thus difficult of digestion.

Bananas should not be given to children under two years of age because before this age the ptyalin and pancreatin are not sufficiently developed to digest the starch.

Many of the inhabitants of the tropics use bananas almost to the exclusion of other food and appear well nourished. They obtain them from the tree when the fruit has thoroughly ripened, the starch having been transformed by Nature into an easily digested product.

The reason many find they cannot digest bananas, as purchased in our markets, is due to the fact that the fruit is immature and unripe.

The banana meal or flour is usually thoroughly digestible, is nourishing, and has an agreeable taste. Invalids can often take banana meal in the form of gruel; it makes an appreciated addition to a limited diet. Made into a porridge and eaten with cream it is valuable in conditions of inflammation of the gastro-intestinal tract. The addition of a few drops of lemon juice renders it palatable to those who like an acid flavor. Children enjoy it as a variation from cereals. It is relished by typhoid fever patients as a change from milk.