NUTRITIVE VALUE OF FRUITS, VEGETABLES AND NUTS

...Other green-leaf vegetables such as lettuce and dandelion greens are also important...

...Nuts, if finely chopped or reduced to the consistency of peanut butter, can be used in place of oil in salad dressings and in the place of butter in pudding sauces...

...It has long been considered probable by experts in nutrition that this was the case, and statistics gathered by the Bureau of Home Economics seem to remove all doubt, for they show a definite relationship between failures to use fruits and vegetables freely and deficiencies in minerals in the diet...

...This is often the case in the diets of children who take the quantity of milk now considered necessary...

...This is a good point to remember in feeding children...

...A pound of oily nut meats supplies approximately 40 per cent of the protein needed by a man each day, 60 per cent of the phosphorus and 30 per cent of the calcium and iron...

...Of the fruits, strawberries and huckleberries are richest in iron, but all fruits, particularly when they can be made to take the place of other sweets, are to be recommended...

...In case of long trips greater variety may be wanted, and under such circumstances canned steamed puddings or fruit cakes have in the experience of travelers in this and other countries proved very useful...

...It is often said, for example, that fruits and vegetables are richer in minerals than are other food materials...

...In general, dried fruits are most useful for sweetening purposes if they can be softened without the addition of much water...

...There is also a tendency for these foods to retain their bulk as they pass through the body, for they contain cellulose which is not as a rule digested or absorbed and which tends to hold and even to take up water...

...Fruits and vegetables may, however, be considered absolutely necessary for the purpose of keeping up the required supply of mineral substances...

...It is often said, too, that the required quantities of the mineral substances of various kinds can not be obtained without the use of fruits and vegetables...

...Eggs, meats, and flesh foods in general tend to reduce this reserve...

...Food Value of Nuts FAT IS by far the largest ingredient in most nuts, though there are important exceptions, such as chestnuts...

...This last-mentioned fact may be of interest in connection with disease...

...For the purpose of supplying protein not classified as complete or efficient, vegetables are more useful than generally supposed...

...of su gar, less than 1 ounce...

...Dates, figs, raisins, and nuts, in equal proportions by weight, and finely chopped make a good sweet which is rich not only in iron but in other minerals...

...and in nuts, fat...

...baking powder, 4 teaspoonfuls...

...It is well to bake such cakes in muffin tins for this gives a maximum of crust which is particularly palatable in cakes enriched by nut fat...

...A certain minimum volume in the food residue of normal healthy people is needed as a means of preventing constipation, and for the maintenance of this volume fruits and vegetables are almost indispensable...

...Bulk is always an advantage in the case of healthy people and more minerals than needed are not harmful...

...Fortunately, the body has power to maintain its alkaline reserve even if the tendency of the food is to reduce it...

...As a source of iron, spinach stands in a class by itself...

...In the latter cases whole-grain cereals help, but such cereals are almost as poor in calcium as are the refined cereals...

...2. —As emergency rations...

...A medium-sized potato, 5 ounces, contains about as much protein and starch as a large slice, 1 1-3 ounces, of Graham bread or an ounce of whole-grain cereal, but it supplies 59 per cent more iron providing, of course, it is either baked or cooked in some mineral-saving way...

...No advice given by a layman is, therefore, to be considered safe...

...They are frequently added in small quantities to cakes, cookies and salads...

...flour, 3 cupfuls...

...A good brand of prunes can be satisfactorily cooked as follows: Pour over them just enough cold water to cover, bring the water to the boiling point, cover closely and allow to cool...

...A pound of shelled nuts of the oily kinds supplies about two-thirds of a pound, or 1 1-3 cupfuls of fat...

...In the diet of hikers, mountain climbers, and others desiring concentrated foods easy to carry, nuts are a valuable emergency food...

...and in the food supplies of households in which, for the sake of the children, a large quantity of milk is used for general cooking purposes...

...The mixture can be rolled into balls, or cut into caramel shaped pieces and dipped in sugar to reduce the stickiness of the surfaces, or it can be spread on bread...

...It appears, however, from these statistics that the reasons for this relationship are seldom correctly stated...

...The ordinary dinner of meat and vegetables provides as a matter of course a considerable variety of flavors and textures...

...When provision is to be made for one or two meals, nuts and dried fruits as such, are often used...

...If instead of being recommended as sources of protein, which supply no protein, minerals, or vitamins, nuts were classed as fatty foods, they would be brought into comparison with pure fats and their advantages would be more apparent...

...When fruits and vegetables are lacking, it is natural to try to make meals attractive by serving rich and sweet foods, but such foods used to the exclusion of fruits and vegetables always tend to lower the phosphorus as well as the iron and the calcium...

...If graham bread is used such sand wiches are a good means of introducing iron into the diet...

...In the absence of such foods it is quite possible to depend so much on sugar and fat as to bring even the phosphorus down below the real need...

...In procuring such an excess, fruits and vegetables are important because if properly prepared they serve to tempt the appetite...

...A margin of safety in the matter of alkaline reserve, minerals, and vitamins is assured by the liberal use of fruits and vegetables...

...In some of the Southern States little cold bread is used and the popular hot bread usually calls for refined flour...

...Baked beans, bean or pea purees, meat and bean stews, stews made with a little meat carefully browned to develop flavor and combined with large quantities of the savory root vegetables are all helpful...

...Summary THERE is only one nutrient—that is, efficient protein—of which fruits, vegetables, and nuts can not supply by far the greater part in the diet...

...Fortunately, there is no danger from this source...

...Calcium can be raised by the liberal use of dried beans, cauliflower, Swiss chard, oranges, and certain other fruits and vegetables...

...The fact is that most people eat a certain quantity of sugar and of butter or other fats, foods which add greatly to fuel value without contributing anything to the needed minerals...

...a second vegetable served with white sauce, and a third simply cooked in water, as peas or string beans are usually cooked...

...It may be necessary to increase the water or the flour a little, but that can be determined by baking a small sample...

...What has been said about fruits and vegetables as a means of giving volume must not be taken as desirable in all cases of constipa-tion...

...Fat in the diet as a whole should not exceed protein by more than 50 per cent in order to suit the taste of most people...

...Variety in texture can be obtained by having one vegetable with a crisp crust like corn fritters or scalloped tomatoes with a layer of well-browned crumbs...

...This combination of foods varies greatly, of course, with food habits, but it is safe to say of it in general that its percentages of calcium, phosphorus, and iron are all lower than required in the diet as a whole and that they can always be raised to the needed quantity by the use of fruits and vegetables properly selected and prepared...

...This means that when meat and eggs are used as the chief source of animal protein, vegetables are needed to offset their acid-forming tendencies, a function which bread and other cereals can not perform...

...In some cases bulky foods do more harm than good...

...A 100-calorie serving of potato is about 5 ounces...

...soda, one-fourth level teaspoonful...

...The writer of the article, Caroline L. Hunt, is wet known to most of oar readers...

...Iron can be raised by the liberal use of fruits in general and of green-leaf vegetables, particularly spinach...

...A raw vegetable, such as celery or radishes, lends still further variety...

...But when some whole-grain cereals and some refined cereals are eaten, and in addition fruits and vegetables are used freely and in variety, the diet is to the taste of most people far more attractive...

...Bureau of Home Economics, U. S. Department of Agriculture...

...In vegetables as a class the largest ingredient is starch...

...Prunes so prepared and served with lemon juice have much the quality of fresh fruit and if thoroughly chilled make a refreshing dish in which the percentage of iron to total calories is not lowered by the addition of sugar...

...3. —As the chief fat in cakes and salads...

...one vegetable of pro-nounced flavor like cauliflower, cabbage, or onions...

...Richer even in lime than the vegetables mentioned are Swiss chard and cauliflower, provided, of course, they are properly cooked...

...No Danger of Excess Minerals IT FOLLOWS from what has been said that the quantity of various minerals may greatly exceed the actual need...

...Potatoes Supply Iron WHEN milk or cheese forms the protein basis of the diet, special effort must be made to obtain iron from fruits and vegetables...

...in fruits, sugar...

...It would be quite possible to use milk, cheese, eggs, flesh foods, and whole-grain cereals in such proportions and quantities as to supply all needed minerals, but this does not represent prevailing food preferences and habits...

...Those who use little milk and cheese can bring up the percentage of cal-cium in the diet also by using fruit juices, particularly orange juice...

...This applies to children who under normal conditions get most of their efficient protein from milk, and also to grown people who for one reason or another depend more on milk and cheese than on meat, fish, poultry, and eggs...

...Since nuts, even those of the same variety, differ in composition, no set rules can be given, but the following proportions may be taken as a guide: Shelled nuts (hickory, pecan, walnuts, filberts or others), 8 ounces...

...The addition of white sauce to a vegetable also increases the amount of protein...

...Most authorities believe, however, that it is best not to depend too much upon this power of the body, hut to maintain the balance between the acid-making and alkaline-making foods...

...Raisins may be added to breakfast cereals or to puddings as a means of sweetening them...

...Chronic constipation is usually due to some form of disease and calls for expert medical attention...

...They can be used as the only source of fat in cakes, salads, and many other dishes.Such uses are to be recommended in regions where nuts are raised and can be obtained at low cost...

...This gives the dish a far greater value from the standpoint of minerals than if enriched by pure fat and sweetened with sugar...

...of bread, 1 1-3 ounces...

...It is the milkless and eggless diet that is most likely to fall low in calcium...

...It is, therefore, with a combination of foods including not only cereals, milk, eggs, and meat, but also the fat and sugar usually eaten with them that the fruits and vegetables are to be compared...

...When, as often happens in the case of adults...

...Except for this precaution there is nothing peculiar about the method of mixing...

...For such persons the large amount of fuel from fats and carbohydrates as compared with that from a protein is not a disadvantage and the minerals in the nuts are a great advantage...

...water, 1 1-3 cupfuls...

...Nuts are often served alone or with dried fruits as a second dessert, or in salted form between courses as appetizers...

...Fat so far exceeds protein in the oily nuts, which include almonds, pecans walnuts, hickory nuts, filberts, and others, that it is practically impossible for the average person under ordinary conditions of living to get sufficient protein from them without an excess of fat in the diet...

...Fruits and vegetables in variety and sufficient in quantity to supply 20 per cent of the total calories are considered sufficient by the Bureau of Home Economics, providing the remainder of the diet is well proportioned...

...In club sandwiches finely chopped nuts may be substituted for the bacon and oil...

...The subject of Vitamins, practically and interestingly with by Miss Hunt in this same , will appear in the December number— B. C L. FRUITS and vegetables always tend to give bulk to the food residue as it passed through the body...

...The importance of vegetables for the purpose of supplying vitamins and minerals has revolutionized methods of preparing and serving these foods...

...white of 4 eggs...

...Raising the proportion of fruits, vegetables and nuts to refined cereals, sugar and pure fats (other items being the same) tends to increase the bulk, minerals, and vitamins of the diet...

...Care must be taken that the vegetable meal provides the same variety of flavors and textures as the more usual meal of vegetables and meat...

...They can in fact easily be used in such quantities as to completely satisfy the need for this element...

...Nutritive Value of Fruits, Vegetables and Nuts By CAROLINE L HUNT The first installment of this very useful and important discussion of food values in relation to health and nutrition, as written for last year's Agricultural Year Book, appeared in our October number...

...If fresh or undried, they are themselves bulky...

...Rhubarb contains more ealcium than oranges but when sweetened sufficiently to taste good is not so useful...

...therefore, to 1 1-4 cupfuls of olive oil, or 1 1-2 cupfuls (three-fourths pound) of butter...

...Beware of Too Much Sweets WHEN extra calcium from vegetables is sought, beans (navy, kidney, and Lima), peas, cowpeas, and lentils, and also turnips, carrots, and parsnips are all more useful than potatoes...

...and one which is either sour itself or which like spinach or beets is ordinarily served with vinegar...

...Potatoes, though containing far less iron per pound than the vegetables mentioned, help to keep up the required amount of this element because of the quantities in which it can be used...

...It might occasionally be used in the home to replace the more common dinner of meat and vegetables...

...Lean and medium fat meats and eggs compare very favorably with many of the fruits and vegetables as sources of iron, and whole-grain cereals and many animal foods are important as sources of phosphorus...

...A statement of this kind which concerns a large number of foods differing greatly among themselves is hardly worth taking seriously, and yet it is so often made that it may be worth while to point out a few of its weak points...

...She is Associate Specialist in Foods and Nutrition...

...Alkaline Reserve THE TISSUES of the body are alkaline and health demands the maintenance of what is usually called an alkaline reserve...

...Nuts supply so much body fuel in so compact and so attractive a form that they are peculiarly well suited for the use of "hikers," mountain climbers or others who are expending large amounts of energy and who wish to travel light...

...Dried fruits and vegetables, though not bulky as purchased, absorb water during preparation for the table and approach in bulk the fresh product...

...In such places fruits and vegetables are greatly needed and because of climate and soil fortunately can easily be produced in variety and abundance...

...In the Bureau of Home Economics, light cakes of the richness of ordinary cupeakes have been made with nuts as the only fat, no milk, butter, or egg yolks being used...

...Potatoes supply more iron than the same number of calories of any cereal...

...As a class vegetables have a slightly higher percentage of protein calories than cereals...

...It is somewhat misleading to class eggs and meat in this connection, for eggs contain more calcium than meat, though far less than milk...

...It should be remembered, too, that some of the more delicately flavored fruits and vegetables, such as fresh berries and peas, taste better with white bread or other refined cereal foods than when eaten with coarse cereals which have a more pronounced flavor...

...Mineral Substances MANY POODS other than fruits and vegetables provide minerals, some being very rich in them...

...In places where nuts are raised and can be obtained at small cost it may be a means of economy to use them in large quantities in place of other fat foods...

...As a rule, one of the vegetables should either be beans or peas, which are comparatively rich in protein, or one served with some food rich in protein such as cauliflower or potatoes scalloped with cheese...

...Vegetable Meals THE "vegetable plate," which consists of three, four, or five different vegetables served on a large plate having several compartments, has become popular in some restaurants and dining cars...

...There is no reason to suppose that lack of iron alone is the cause of anaemia, but one of the recognized factors in correcting this abnormal condition is an excess of iron in the food...

...The uses of nuts may be grouped under three heads: 1. —As food accessories...

...In making such puddings nuts can be used to supply most of the fat and dried fruits the greater part of the sugar...

...salt, 1 level tea-spoonful...

...Far larger quantities of fruits and vegetables than those which make up the allowance recommended as a general guide can, of course, be safely used, Special cases which call for larger quantities or for special selection among the different varieties are as follows: The greater the proportion of refined cereals to whole-grain cereals, the greater the need for fruits ana vegetables...

...When so served they are seldom eaten in sufficient quantities to affect the mineral content of the food as a whole to a significant degree...

...On the other hand, in the diet of persons who prefer meat and eggs to milk and cheese and who use whole-grain cereals chiefly, the use of the allowance of fruits and vegetables recommended may have the effect of introducing a 50 per cent margin of safety in the case of iron...

...sugar, 1 1-2 cupfuls...

...Canned fruit and nut puddings are specially suited for the use of travelers in places where there is danger of contracting dysentery or other diseases carried by water or transmitted by insects, for, besides being palatable and concentrated, they have the advantage of being protected from contamination up to the moment in which they are to be eaten...

...So far as flavor is concerned, a good combination is one mild flavored vegetable such as potatoes or Lima beans...

...In the diet of those who get most of their efficient protein from milk or cheese, calcium often far exceeds the quantity needed without that obtained from fruits and vegetables...

...Spinach with hard-boiled egg, or sweet corn pudding made with milk and eggs, would also answer this purpose...

...The matter of protein must also be kept in mind...

...Under most circumstances, it is better to consider nuts as sources of fat rather than of protein, and to use them interchangeably with other fatty foods such as butter, oils, and bacon...

...The exact proportions in which meat and vegetables should be used can not be stated, but it is well to be on the safe side and use fruits and vegetables in abundance...

...In this case there is no alternative as there is when iron or phosphorus is concerned...

...Statistics of production show that even if the waste occurring in the course of distribution, transportation, and preparation for the table were greatly reduced, the vegetables and fruits produced in this country would not be sufficient to supply the 20 per cent allowance recommended by the Bureau of Home Economics...

...It is true that whole-grain cereal foods and bran give bulk and that when fruits and vegetables are not obtainable in abundance can be depended on for this purpose...

...For purposes of meal planning it is logical, therefore, to consider vegetables in connection With cereals, fruits with sweets, and nuts with such exceedingly fat foods as cream, chocolate, and bacon...

...In the ideal diet, therefore, in which taste as well as physical well-being is taken into consideration, it is well to throw the responsibility for bulk largely on the fruits and vegetables...

...These points are of importance in the diet of children and of those adults who depend chiefly on milk and cheese for protein...

...in the diets of grown people who prefer milk and cheese to eggs and fish foods...

...On the home table the vegetables would usually be served from separate dishes on ordinary plates, but the points that should be observed, if these vegetable meals are to be made popular are everywhere the same...

...the protein basis of the diet consists chiefly of meat, fish, and eggs, and little milk and cheese are used, fruits and vegetables must be eaten freely or especially chosen to insure calcium...

...A 100-calorie serving of orange is about 7 ounces (the edible portion of a good sized orange...

...This is true of the diet of individuals and also of the food supplies of different sections of the country...

...Since milk, cheese, eggs, meat, and cereals, as well as fruits, nuts, and vegetables contain phosphorus, there is little danger that this element will be lacking...

...This is apparently necessary when milk supplies less than 6 or 7 per cent of the total calories...

...Almonds, which are one of the least fatty of the nuts, contain two and one-half times as much fat as protein, there being five or six times as much fat as protein in most other nuts...

...This is an argument for the use of dried fruits and vegetables when fresh ones can not be afforded and for preserving both fruits and vegetables in times of plenty for use in times of scarcity...

...This statement is also in error...

...cereals have little effect one way or the other...

...It is, however, occasionally found to be too low for health, particularly in the diet of the poor...

...Milk and cheese are more useful in supplying calcium than are any of the vegetables...

...milk, fruits, and vegetables increase it...

...It is equal for shortening, or enriching purposes...

...Soy beans and peanuts are the only vegetable foods that can be thought of as supplying complete protein...

...The nuts should be put through a food chopper •with part of the flour to absorb the oil which otherwise might be lost...