All kinds of food not belonging to the animal or semi-animal division are classed as vegetables, and when rightly proportioned will sustain life.

The tissue building vegetables include the cereals, nuts, dry beans, peas, and lentils. Most of the other vegetables contain a very small per cent of proteid, but are intended to serve other purposes mainly.

The starch of vegetables, such as potatoes, rice, tapioca, and a large per cent of beans, peas, and cereals produces energy and heat, belonging to the carbohydrate class.

The green or succulent vegetables usually considered so healthy are not so because of their nutritive value, but because of their organic mineral matter and salts; however, some of them have more nutritive value than others, as the carrot, turnip, parsnip, squash and pumpkin, having starch, sugar, and a little proteid, are substantial foods.

The succulent vegetables and fruits so rich in mineral matter and salts purify the blood and aid in maintaining the normal action of the organs and digestive fluids. They are composed largely of distilled water that dissolves the substance tending to settle in the arteries and joints producing old age. The mineral matter is utilized by the cells in growth and the fibrous substance is the hay of human beings serving as bulk to suspend and carry the living cells along, as well as to brush the lining of the intestinal tract and absorb and cast off poison that otherwise would enter the system. The juice of green vegetables and ripe fruit is also antiseptic. The germs of consumption and other diseases cannot thrive when plenty of onions and spinach and fruit are eaten.

Greens and succulent vegetables should not be cooked in the ordinary way as the chemical value is changed by boiling - the minerals are set free and become inorganic, thus do not serve the same purpose as nature intended, besides much of the substance being lost in the water. Boiling also softens the fibre, depriving the system of its purifying agent as well as adding a sloppy mass of soft food that is worse than valueless. When the sins of cooking are realized the great amount of sickness is easily understood. It is not a hard matter to follow the laws of health when the purpose of food is known. Simple fresh salads from leaves that grow in the sunlight should form a part of every dinner. While sueculent vegetables should not be cooked soft, they may be heated in hot water until transparent to make hot salad. Greens are usually better after the hot water has taken away the bitter principle. Cabbage, radishes, lettuce, spinach, green peas, cucumbers, asparagus, sweet peppers, parsley, dandelions, onions, and celery may be served raw or some of them may be heated for hot salad.

As but few people realize the great amount of organic mineral elements and salts that may be destroyed in food by improper cooking, the following table is quoted from Mr. Anderson's valuable work on "Health Foods." There are many other elements in each kind of food, but these are of greatest importance:

Grains Of Potash And Phosphates Per Pound

The tissue building and energy producing vegetables, as peas, beans, cereals, turnips, squash, pumpkins, potatoes, rice, parsnips, etc., should be cooked tender in a double boiler to save the living cell as well as the chemical value. Starch is sometimes more easily utilized cooked than raw, hence most starchy foods, especially rice and potatoes, should be cooked but the proteid element blended with the starch must not be devitalized by boiling. Beans and peas cook most perfectly in steady slow-heat. Potatoes and rice cook easily when put into plenty of hot water with a uniform temperature, but must be drained dry as soon as soft. They will not be soggy or water soaked if cooked properly. Green corn, peas, beans and all canned fruit should be cooked for canning just below the boiling point. All bacterial life is destroyed and canned goods serve a better purpose when not boiled.

Dry beans and peas are the most valuable tissue building vegetables, and should take the place of meat to a great extent. The dry bean and pea should be used almost constantly or at least every other day, and should take the place of so much canned goods that are of inferior value and higher priced. As beans and peas are concentrated food, only a reasonable quantity should be eaten at a meal.