Page:The Road to Wellville (1926).djvu/52

 spinach, greens, string beans, celery, lettuce, cucumbers, radishes, raw cabbage, all come in this class of Nature’s mild laxatives. Among the fruits, the figs, prunes, and berries are prominent, though oranges, apples, grapes, and other fresh fruits all promote elimination.

The cellulose of fruits and vegetables may break down, but the cork-like cells of the outside of grains, and the cellulose of seeds and berries and the coarser fibres of vegetables are more resistant and so provide the needed bulk for elimination. Not only does wheat bran possess this characteristic, but it carries with it valuable minerals and vitamin B. Post’s Bran Flakes is designedly made to carry enough of the wheat kernel along to make it both palatable and nutritious, with enough bran to furnish the right amount of bulk. Post’s Bran Flakes contains over 11 per cent of protein, 1.5 per cent of fat, nearly 4 per cent of fibre, and 4 per cent of minerals. These minerals include important amounts of iron and phosphorus. So, served with milk (carrying abundant calcium), two or three heaping tablespoons of this cereal gives us a running start up the Road to Wellville every morning.

Used as a cereal, and also in breads and muffins, supplemented with exercise and the succulent fruits and vegetables mentioned, even the unnatural tendencies of civilization may be successfully counteracted, unless the intestine is really paralyzed or there is definite stoppage. Then, too, these measures tend to make good elimination habitual, to animate the colon to natural