citrus advisory take two

[Guest guest]

hi folks...

i sent out a message a while back, which i've reposted here, warning

about eating unripe fruit

 

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13 dec 03

please pay special attention to your teeth if you are eating citrus

 

another local raw fooder and i have recently had a unusual amount of

cavities which we attribute to eating immature citrus

 

if it stings your lips/mouth i would question whether it's worth eating

citrus that stings usually brixes low on the charts

it's gotta be affecting the rest of you system also (BONES???)

 

i've never had citrus ''bite'' that was truly tree ripened

of coarse it's rare that you're gonna find ripe citrus in the stores

the ripe citrus is found on the ground under the tree

 

be sure to thoroughly rinse your mouth with fresh water after eating

citrus or any fruit for that matter

(end of message)

 

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here's a cut from the article below by shelton

i'm assuming shelton is referring to tree ripened fruit which was more

common in his days;

 

Teeth have been kept uninterruptedly immersed in lemon juice for as long

as six months and the acid had no effect on their enamel. There would

seem to be no foundation for the idea that eating oranges or drinking

orange juice injures the teeth.

 

It should be generally known that when acids are taken into the mouth

there is a copious outpouring of alkaline saliva, which bathes the

membranes of the mouth and the tongue. This secretion of saliva is kept

up long after the acid has been swallowed. Any acid left on the teeth

or in the mouth is quickly neutralized by the alkaline saliva. We are

too prone to overlook the body's own provisions for its safety.

(end of cut)

 

norm )~

 

...... raw food, simply wonderful .....

 

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Dr. Herbert M. Shelton

Fruit Eating

 

Fruit is real food. Indeed, fruits are among the few substances

produced I organic nature that seem to be designed specially to serve as

food . Fruits supply the body with an abundance of minerals, sugars,

and vitamins and, in the case of some of them, considerable high-grade

protein. The sugar in fruit is ideally associated with minerals and

vitamins and need not be rejected as one does (or should) refined

sugars. Fruit sugar is superior as human nutriment to honey, which is

so ludicrously lauded in many quarters. Indeed, honey, when compared

with the sugars of fruits, ranks about on the level of white sugar.

 

Most fruits are abundant in minerals, also containing important trace

minerals, so that they form important and vital ingredients in the diet

of the growing child. Most of them are moderate to low in calcium, but

this is easily compensated from other wholesome sources. Fruits are

commonly rich in vitamin C but contain less of other vitamins. They

are, however, on the whole, excellent sources of vitamins.

 

They are commonly low in protein, rarely containing over two to two and

a half percent and many of them containing much less than this. The

date, banana, avocado and a few other fruits contain small amounts of

excellent proteins. Supplemented with nuts and green leaves, their

proteins become valuable additions to the diet. A fruit and nut diet is

improved by the addition of green leafy vegetables. A large green salad

each day makes such a diet almost ideal.

 

Most fruits contain more or less acid - such as malic, citric, tartaric,

etc. being present. The prejudice that has grown up around fruits is a

revival of the medical prejudice against acid fruits. They were

declared to cause " acid diseases " , and were regarded as especially

objectionable in rheumatism.

 

Fortunately, the body is able to oxidize the organic acids of fruits, at

least of those fruits that we commonly use as food. These leave an

alkaline ash upon being oxidized. There is sometimes difficulty with

the acid of prunes, but there is no ground for the prejudice that has

been revived against oranges, tangerines, lemons, grapefruit, tangelos,

tomatoes, and similar citric-acid bearing fruits.

 

The acids of berries are also easily oxidized and these, also, leave an

alkaline ash. The acid radical of organic acids is expelled as carbon

dioxide through the lungs; the alkaline salts that remain help to

alkalinize the blood. Teeth have been kept uninterruptedly immersed in

lemon juice for as long as six months and the acid had no effect on

their enamel. There would seem to be no foundation for the idea that

eating oranges or drinking orange juice injures the teeth.

 

It should be generally known that when acids are taken into the mouth

there is a copious outpouring of alkaline saliva, which bathes the

membranes of the mouth and the tongue. This secretion of saliva is kept

up long after the acid has been swallowed. Any acid left on the teeth

or in the mouth is quickly neutralized by the alkaline saliva. We are

too prone to overlook the body's own provisions for its safety.

 

In the late spring and summer, when such fruits as peaches, plums,

apricots, nectarines, cherries, the various berries, cantaloupes,

watermelons, grapes, figs, etc., are plentiful, it is well to make a

large part of the diet fruits. In the fall, when pears, apples,

persimmons, and the citrus fruits come into season, these should

constitute a large part of the diet. Certain of these fruits, like the

tomato, grapes, oranges, and grapefruits are plentiful throughout most

of the year and may be eaten all the time. The avocado is abundant

through most of the year, but is best eaten during the cooler periods of

the year. Such sun-dried fruits as figs, dates, raisins, peaches,

apricots, pears, etc., may be freely eaten during the winter months.

 

These melons make an excellent breakfast during the season of the year

when they are ripening. They are best eaten alone. A large piece of

watermelon makes an adequate breakfast, even for the physical worker.

Cantaloupe, banana melon, casaba, Crenshaw and the Persian melon, in

season, make a delightful and satisfying breakfast. If more food is

desired for breakfast, it should be taken half an hour after eating the

melon.

 

Nearly all of what we see of so-called allergy to fruits is indigestion

resulting from wrongly combining the foods eaten. Fruits with starches,

fruits with proteins, and similar combinations are prone to decompose,

producing gas, discomfort, and skin eruptions. Melons with other foods

may cause marked distress. Eaten alone, they digest with the greatest

of ease. In very young children there may sometimes be a short period

during the development of a child, when its digestive system cannot

handle a certain fruit, for example, an apple. It is well to leave some

fruits out of the child's diet until its development has progressed to a

point where it can easily digest the fruit that gives trouble.

 

Great improvement in the ability to digest and handle foods follows a

fast. It is no uncommon thing to find that an individual, who has

trouble with a particular article of food, can take it with the greatest

of ease after a fast. If we can learn that what is called allergy is

not a permanent possession, but that when its causes are removed, it

ceases, we can understand that it is possible for us to become able to

enjoy any wholesome food. It amazes those who are " allergic " to

strawberries, for example, to see no trouble develop if they are placed

on a strawberry diet.

 

When fruit is eaten with a meal of bread, flesh, potatoes, butter and

the rest of the usual meal, the fruit usually being taken at the end of

the meal, but often at the beginning, the indigestion and discomfort

that result from such combining of foods will almost certainly be blamed

on the fruit, which is likely the only wholesome article of food in the

meal. The discomforts following such a meal may range all the way from

a little gas formation that scarcely attracts the attention of the

eater, to a painful indigestion accompanied with nausea, vomiting and

diarrhea. The fruit, kept away from the other foods, and eaten as a

fruit meal will digest easily and result in no discomfort.

 

Fruits that are peeled and sliced and permitted to stand for long

periods of time before eating are hardly wholesome foods. They change

color, lose flavor, undergo oxidation with resulting loss of food value

and tend to decompose readily. Fruits added to breads, cakes, pies and

various other kinds of pastries can also occasion considerable

indigestion and distress. In this latter case, not only is the food

spoiled in preparation and cooking, but the combination is indigestible.

Fresh fruits, with cleaning as the only preparation, are most easily

digested. The addition of sugar, syrups, honey and other sweeteners to

fruits can also result in indigestion and discomforts.

 

Fruits have fallen into disrepute with many people for the reason that

they find that they suffer with discomfort after eating them. It was

Dr. Dewey who said that fruits demoralize digestion. He was especially

opposed to eating apples. This trouble with fruits grows out of the

practice of wrongly combining them. Strawberries and melons are

commonly singled out as " fruits that I am allergic to, " and these foods

are wholesome and toothsome. If taken alone, as in the case of melons,

or properly combined as in the case of strawberries, they almost never

cause any trouble, Sink rashes and intestinal disturbances that often

follow the eating of fruit or that follow a particular fruit may, almost

always, be traced to wrong combining. In the few cases where this is

not so, correction of the way of life, so that normal digestive power is

re-established, soon enables the individuals to eat fruit. I do not

think that there is anyone who cannot eat freely of fruits if due care

is taken in combining them.