Beans | | | | | | | (dried) |12.6 | 22.5 | 1.8 | 59.6 | 3.5 | 0.0 | 1605 Peas | | | | | | | (green, | | | | | | | shelled)|74.6 | 7.0 | 0.5 | 16.9 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 465 —————————+—————+—————————+—————+—————————+———————+—————————+————————— In larger cities, fresh vegetables are in the markets the year around, but if they are raised in greenhouses, or in any way forced, they lack the flavor which comes with natural maturity and they also lack the full amount of iron given by the rays of the sun. If raised in the south and shipped from a distance, they are not fresh and they do not have as good an effect on the system as when fresh and fully matured by the sun. _Greens_, as spinach, chard, dandelions, and beet tops, as previously stated, contain iron and build red blood corpuscles. _Cabbage_, of which there are many varieties, contains much sulphur. If fermentation exists in the intestines the sulphur unites with hydrogen causing gas of an unpleasant odor. They promote the formation of calcium oxalate in the urine and should be avoided as a food by any one inclined to gout, rheumatism, or gall-stones. Cabbage is usually not well digested by invalids. Eaten raw, because of its bulk, it is laxative. Some dyspeptics, who cannot digest cooked cabbage, digest raw cabbage readily. _Celery_ is wholesome when cooked, because of the milk and butter in which it is prepared. Eaten raw the fiber is hard for the digestive juices to dissolve and should be thoroughly masticated. It has little nutritive value save for its appetizing flavor. Because of the salts, largely sulphates and phosphates, which it contains, celery has been called a nerve food, but the proportion of these is so small that their food value is negligible. _Tomatoes_ are easily digested and are refreshing. They are not well borne by some and on account of the oxalic acid they contain should not be used by those having an excess of uric acid. _Asparagus_, because of its delicate flavor and appearance early in spring, is a vegetable universally liked. It is easily digested and may be eaten by invalids; they usually greatly relish it. Its particular food value lies in its sulphur and in its value as an appetizer. _Rhubarb_ is one of the most wholesome of vegetables and is being much more widely used. Thoroughly cooked it is digestible and a natural laxative. Its tart flavor and appearance in early spring render it a pleasant change from the ordinary diet. Eaten in excess, like cabbage, it produces calcium oxalate in the urine and should not be eaten in large amounts by those inclined to gout. All fresh vegetables should be masticated to almost a fluid consistency; otherwise, they are difficult of digestion, containing, as they do, so much fiber. * * * * * [Sidenote: Fruits]