9. Questions & Answers

I have a large organic vegetable garden and several fruit trees. Every year I have a surplus of produce in season, and share with my friends and neighbors, but still, I always have much left over. I usually freeze my wonderful organically-grown figs, peaches and strawberries without any sweetening or heating, and we eat them just barely thawed. They are delicious that way. You don't approve of buying frozen foods which may be blanched, sweetened, or otherwise treated, but what do you think about these home-frozen fruits?

I do believe that this a good way to have some of your excellent organically-grown fruits out of season and, since there is so little loss of taste, it would be a shame to waste them. If they are frozen quickly, immediately after picking, the vitamin loss would also be minimized. However, do not depend on your frozen fruit for your entire supply of fruit in any season. You should also use as many fresh fruits, of good quality, that you can incorporate into your diet, so that you will be sure to also get a good supply of whichever nutrients are damaged or lost by the freezing temperatures. Freezing, however, is less damaging than cooking.

I have heard that foods which are members of the nightshade family should not be used.

Tobacco is one member of the nightshade family. But a group of foods habitually used by Hygienists are also members of this family. These foods are white potatoes, tomatoes, bell peppers and eggplant. It is claimed that certain arthritics are "allergic" to these foods and experience remissions when they are omitted from their diet. It is also claimed, principally by advocates of macrobiotic vegetarianism, that these foods should not be used by anyone.
They advance the contention that all of these foods contain solanine (see definition). Hygienists agree with warnings against the use of potato sprouts or green areas on white potatoes, because of the concentration of solanine they contain, but not that the foods mentioned should not be used. Thousands of Hygienists do use these foods, and do not suffer with arthritis. We have used these foods frequently for many years, and we have no symptoms of arthritis or other disease.
If people who are suffering with arthritis wish to experiment with eliminating these foods from their diets for a period of time, there is no reason they cannot do so, as there is a plethora of other Hygienic foods from which to choose.
The macrobiotic diet is considered by Hygienists to be grossly inadequate, even dangerous. It consists principally of cooked grains, especially brown rice, with very small amounts of other foods. They favor the elimination of salads and fruits. They make the astounding declaration that the best diet would consist of 100% grain, but for those not eating all grain (probably no one actually does eat all grain), they allow sauteed vegetables and soup. They favor the use of salt and soy sauce, and, in spite of the thirst-producing diet of cooked food seasoned with salt and soy sauce, they recommend that very little water be taken, less than one-half pint daily.
Hygienists use very little water, since the Hygienic, mostly raw-food diet, without seasonings, is a water-sufficient diet. But it would be very difficult to abstain from drinking on the diet recommended by advocates of the macrobiotic diet.

If I must choose between wilted, organically-grown lettuce, and fresh, crisp commercial lettuce, which is better?

I really don't like to make such a choice, but would be inclined to say that probably the fresh, crisp commercial lettuce may taste better and have more nutritional value. If the wilted outer leaves of the organically-grown lettuce can be stripped off, exposing some green, crisp lettuce beneath it, that could be used. But if it is broken down all the way through, it is not much good.