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The chief objection to nuts is supposed to be on account of their indigestibility. But this has its foundation, not in the nut, but in the manner of eating it. I recommend all those people who find nuts indigestible to pay a visit to the Zoo and see how the monkey eats his nuts. He chews and chews and chews. And after that he chews!

I know, alas! that the majority of people do not possess teeth like the monkey, and to these I can only suggest that they macerate their nuts in a nut butter machine. There are several of these machines on the market, and they are stocked by all large "Food-Reform" provision dealers. They cost anything from six or seven shillings. The daily allowance of nuts may be thoroughly macerated and eaten with fruit in the place of cream. Ordinary people may use a nut-mill, which flakes, not macerates, the nuts. But people with bad teeth and a weak digestion will do better to invest in a nut butter machine. I may add that the nuts will not macerate properly unless they are crisp, and to this end they must be put in a warm oven for a short time, just before grinding. I have found new, English-grown walnuts crisp enough without this preparation. But if the nuts are not crisp enough they will simply clog the machine.

Now to our nuts! Almonds are the most nourishing. Next in order come walnuts, hazel or cob nuts, and Brazil nuts. The proteid value of these three does not differ much. After these come the chestnut and cocoanut, and lastly we have the pine kernel. Speaking very roughly, we may liken walnuts, hazel nuts, and Brazil nuts to beef for flesh and muscle-forming value, while pine kernels correspond more nearly to fish. Almonds are nearly double the value of beef.

Nut Cream

Doctor Fernie recommends the following nut-cream for brain-workers. Pound in a mortar, or mince finely, 3 blanched almonds, 2 walnuts, 2 ounces of pine kernels. Steep overnight in orange or lemon juice.

It should be made fresh daily, and may be used in place of butter.

Oat

The oat is generally cited as the most nourishing of all the cereals, and a good nerve food. The fine oatmeal gruel of our grandmothers has gone almost entirely out of fashion, but its use might be revived with advantage. Like wheat, it is a complete food. A good preparation of groats (ground oats from which the husk has been entirely removed) may be taken by those who find other preparations indigestible.

Some persons seem unable to take oatmeal, its use being followed by a skin eruption. This is supposed to be due to a special constituent called "avenin," the existence of which, however, is denied by some authorities.

There is little doubt but that persons of weak digestive powers and sedentary habits cannot digest porridge comfortably. In any case quickly-cooked porridge is an abomination.

Olive

The chief use of the olive, at least in this country, consists in the oil expressed from it. Unfortunately our so-called olive oil is generally cotton-seed oil. Captain Diamond of San Francisco, aged 111, and the oldest living athlete in the world, attributes much of his health to the use of olive oil. But he lays great stress upon the importance of obtaining it pure. Cotton-seed oil consists partly of an indigestible gum, and its continued ingestion tends to produce kidney trouble and heart failure.

A simple test for purity is to use, the suspected sample for oiling floors or furniture. If pure, it will leave a beautiful polish minus grease. But if it contains cotton-seed oil, part of it will evaporate, leaving the gummy portion behind.

When pure olive oil is shaken in a half-filled bottle, the bubbles formed thereby rapidly disappear, but if the sample is adulterated the bubbles continue some time before they burst.

Pure olive oil is pale and a greenish yellow.

If equal volumes of strong nitric acid (this may be obtained from any chemist) and olive oil are mixed together and shaken in a flask the resulting product has a greenish or orange tinge which remains unchanged after standing for ten minutes. But if cotton-seed oil is present, the mixture is reddish in colour, and becomes brown or black on standing.

Olive oil is slightly laxative, and therefore useful to sufferers from constipation. It is also an excellent vermifuge.

Olive oil has been used with great success in the treatment of gall stones. A Dr. Rosenberg reported that of twenty-one cases treated by "the ingestion of a considerable quantity of olive oil, only two failed of complete recovery."

London, C. W. Daniel
11 Cursitor Street, E.C.
1908

Tags: Nutrition