Lysine is another amino acid of great impor- tance, because experiments have shown that chil- dren fed on foods lacking this amino acid are stunted in growth; and cystine also is important for physical development. The pecan nut has both these amino acids present in relatively large quantities; and it is possibly due to this fact that the experiments of Dr. Hoobler, of Detroit, in the Woman’s Hospital and Infants’ Home (recorded in the Journal of the American Medical Associa- tion, August 12, 1917) showed that for nursing mothers a diet consisting largely of nuts (50%) was far superior to any other dietary, and in every particular, giving nearly 15% greater flow of milk, with 80% greater food value.
Dr. Kellogg, head of the famous Battle Creek Sanitarium, emphasizes the fact that nuts were the chief staple in the diet of primitive man and urges that they be adopted now as the best source of protein because “Nuts are free from trichnae, tape worm and parasites, and from the possibility of carrying specific disease.” “Nuts,” he adds, “are in good health when gathered and remain so till eaten.” “Besides,” he says, “nuts furnish an abundance of lime and are also rich in iron of the finest quality.”
Continuing his comparisons of nuts with the usual sources of protein and fats, he says, “The nut is equal to milk in nutritive value, and indeed, is superior in the fact that while containing a rich supply of lime, it is also richly supplied with iron,
which is deficient in milk.” “The pecan may thus14
