Fruit and the Teeth

I mention the above because one of the objections that I have heard cited against the free use of fruit is that "the acids act injuriously upon the teeth." Until I became a vegetarian I used to visit a dentist regularly every six months. I had done this for ten years, and nearly every tooth in my gums had its gold filling. The last time I visited the dentist I told him that I had become a vegetarian, and he replied that he rather thought my teeth would decay quicker in future on account of an increased consumption of vegetable acids. But from that day, now nearly six years ago, to the present time, I have never been near a dentist.

 My teeth seem to have taken a new lease of life. It is a fact that the acids in fruit and vegetables so far from injuring the teeth benefit them. Many of these acids are strongly antiseptic and actually destroy the germs that cause the teeth to decay. On the other hand, they do not attack the enamel of the teeth, while inorganic acids do. Nothing cleanses the teeth so effectually as to thoroughly chew a large and juicy apple.

Fruit is a Food

Until quite recently the majority of English-speaking people have been accustomed to look upon fruit not as a food, but rather as a sweetmeat, to be eaten merely for pleasure, and therefore very sparingly. It has consequently been banished from its rightful place at the beginning of meals. But fruit is not a "goody," it is a food, and, moreover, a complete food. All vegetable foods (in their natural state) contain all the elements necessary to form a complete food. At a pinch human life might be supported on any one of them. I say "at a pinch" because if the nuts cereals and pulses were ruled out of the dietary it would, for most people, be deficient in fat and proteid (the flesh and muscle-forming element). Nevertheless, fruit alone will sustain life if taken in large quantities with small output of energy on the part of the person living upon it, as witness the "grape cure."The percentage of proteid in grapes is particularly high for fruit.

Those people who desire to make a fruitarian dietary their daily régime cannot do better than take the advice of O. Hashnu Hara, an American writer. He says: "Every adult requires from twelve to sixteen ounces of dry food, free from water, daily. To supply this a quarter of a pound of shelled nuts and three-quarters of a pound of any dried fruit must be used. In addition to this, from two to three pounds of any fresh fruit in season goes to complete the day's allowance. These quantities should be weighed out ... and will sustain a full-grown man in perfect health and vitality. The quantity of ripe fresh fruit may be slightly increased in summer, with a corresponding decrease in the dried fruit."