FRUITS AS A DIET ALTERNATIVE - Fitness and Aerobics a Healthier Lifestyle

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THE AMAZING WORLD OF FRUIT - PART TWO

HONEYDEWS

Just like their name, when ripe, honeydews have a light green,
juicy flesh with a sweet flavor. It is a good source of vitamins
A and C, potassium and zinc and excellent in digestive
enzymes.

Juicing tips: To juice, wash skin and juice with seeds. Look
for melons that have a creamy, yellow navel and are slightly
soft when pressed by the thumb. Rock-hard melons will not be
sweet and will take a long time ripening. They should also
have a pleasant honey aroma. Will store well at room
temperature or in the refrigerator.

Honeydews are favored for juice fasting because they are so
tasty.

KIWIS

The kiwi fruit was invented in New Zealand from the Chinese
gooseberry. So tickled were the New Zealand farmers, that
they named it after their national bird, the kiwi. Today kiwis
are cultivated in California and New Zealand. This allows us
to have fresh kiwis all year round.

The small fruit is about the size of a golf ball and is round and
fuzzy on the outside and bright green with edible black seeds.
Cut fruit into wedges and juice. This will produce a thick
delicious juice that combines very well with grape or any fruit
of your choice. Kiwis should be firm, only giving slightly
when pressed. They will store well for a week in the
refrigerator.

LEMONS

Lemons are the king of citrus fruit. Because of their high
source of bioflavinoids, they are powerful in detoxifying the
body. They are also an excellent diuretic. Lemon juice is an
excellent addition to guacamole, salad dressings, sauces, and
is a preservative, keeping the guacamole from discoloring into
an unsightly brown. Skin should be smooth with no green
spots which is a sign of a high acid content. Store loosely in
refrigerator.

Juicing tips: During fasting, lemon juice has a tremendous
ability to dissolve mucus and scour toxins from the cellular
tissue. When juicing lemons, leave some of the inner white
peel for the bioflavinoids. Dilute five to one with water. One
of the most refreshing drinks on a hot summer day is chilled
mineral water with a splash of freshly-squeezed lemon juice.
Lemon is excellent in fruit salads, inhibiting the discoloration
of fresh fruit exposed to the air.

Juicing a lemon before juicing apples keeps the juice clear and
pleasantly colored. An excellent addition to vegetable juices.
Acts as a delicious lift to the heavy flavor commonly
associated with vegetable juice.

LIMES

Similar to lemons. An excellent addition to any juice or salad
dressings.

MANGOS

One of the world's most popular fruit. Grown in Asia, South
and Central America, Florida, California and the Caribbean.
They are succulent and filled with sweet juice. The
harmonious nuances of heavenly flavors cause an
orchestration of singing taste buds, exclaiming the perfection
of God's Creation.

Move over Reeses Peanut Butter Cups! Mangos beat you by a
mile! Mango juice is an excellent addition to any fruit juices.
Rich in vitamin C, some B vitamins, and beta carotene.

Remove skin and pit before juicing. Slicing mangos is a bit of
a trick. Starting at the top, cut down, curving the knife along
the flat part of the pit on both sides. This will remove the
majority of flesh. You can slice strips of flesh and the skin
should easily pull away from the fillet. The remainder can be
eaten from the pit. Mangos come in many sizes, but the largest
have the most juice. They can be purchased slightly green and
will ripen in a few days on the counter, turning a bright
yellow. They will be soft to the touch, exhaling a sweet smell.

As with all tropical fruits, mangos do not store well in the
refrigerator and are best left at room temperature. Will store
for two to three days on the counter.

ORANGES

Everybody loves oranges. And what is breakfast without a
fresh tall glass of orange juice? Some of the highest quality
oranges are grown in North America in the sunny state of
Florida. Florida oranges have a higher juice content than
oranges from California.

The Valencia and Navel oranges from California are
considered excellent for eating. Green skin on oranges is not
necessarily an indication of their being unripe. In fact, the
familiar bright orange color is a result of an orange dye having
been applied to the skin.

Oranges in their true color are yellow and green. It would be
far healthier if the consumer could grow accustomed to what
would appear to be an esthetically unappetizing orange. Look
for thin skin, heavy fruit, and store in the refrigerator.

Juicing tips: Orange juice, fresh from the juicer, has a live
taste. The powerful healing effects of fresh juice come from
the dramatic increase in enzymes available to the body.
Orange juice, frozen or bottled, has no enzymes, but can be
added to freshly-made juice.

PAPAYAS

A fruit that comes from the deep tropics. Expensive and hard
to find because of difficulty in shipping this delicate fruit.
Most of our papayas come from Hawaii. They are an oval-
shaped fruit weighing less than a pound. Cut in half, the flesh
is an orange hue filled with shiny, black, edible seeds. They
are a good source of calcium, potassium, vitamin C and of
course, the color gives it away-beta carotene. They are high
in the enzyme, papain, which helps us digest protein and is
used commercially to tenderize meat.

Papaya makes excellent-tasting, highly-expensive juice.
Papaya should have some yellow color which is an indication
of ripeness. Will store in the refrigerator only for a few days.
Green fruit will soften when left on the counter for a day or
two. Spotted papayas, somewhat like bananas, are sweeter
even though they do not look pretty. Peel before juicing.

PEARS

When pears are perfectly ripe-not too soft and not too firm,
they are the most delicious of fruits. The juice from a pear is
thick and sweet and can be diluted with apple juice. They are
high in thiamin, riboflavin, niacin and folic acid which help
establish a healthy cardiovascular system. They are also a
good source of vitamin C, calcium, potassium, phosphorus
and minerals. Levulose is the fruit sugar in pears which is
easily tolerated by diabetics.

Pears are higher in pectin than apples, which encourages
regularity. Common varieties are Bartlett, Bosc, Anjou and
Comice. The sweetest and juiciest are the Bartletts with their
bright yellow skin. Bartletts are available from summer to fall.
Look for slightly soft flesh around the stem area.

Juicing tips: For juicing, a firmer pear is desirable so that it
will not clog the juicer. Firm pears can be ripened on the
counter in a couple of days. Keep juicing-pears in the
refrigerator.

PINEAPPLES

Take a cold fresh glass of ripened pineapple juice in crushed
ice. Find a quiet comfortable corner in your home and close
your eyes. You will begin to hear the waves of the ocean
lapping on the powdered, white shoreline of a tropical island.
Above you, the gentle dance of palm leaves moved by hot
tropical breezes. Add a pinch of coconut juice and you have
been transformed into Robinson Crusoe, living a life of
solitude in a tropical paradise.

Pineapple is the taste of the sun-soaked tropics, especially if
you find one that was picked in its ripened state.

Pineapples are jam-packed with minerals, potassium, choline,
sodium, phosphorus, magnesium, sulfur, calcium, iron and
iodine. They have loads of vitamins including vitamin C and
are an excellent source of bromelain, an enzyme that helps
digestion. Bromelain has also been known to cure laryngitis
and is soothing to the throat. Learning how to determine a
sweet pineapple may take some practice. Your pineapple
ought to have a strong, sweet aroma. Look for a large plump,
heavy fruit. The leaves should easily pull out. The skin should
be a dark golden color.

The summer is prime pineapple season because the sun is at
its strongest. Jet-shipped or jet-fresh are more expensive but
have been flown from the field a day or two before you eat
them. The majority of pineapples are shipped by sea and are
often months old. Always keep pineapples at room
temperature unless cut.

Juicing tips: To cut pineapple for juicing, remove top and
bottom. If not organically-grown, stand vertical and remove
skin. Cut in slices, including core and pass through the juicer.
For eating, cut in quarters and remove core.

STRAWBERRIES

They are the king of the berries. If you have ever had the
pleasure of going strawberry picking, it is simply a delicious
experience. You can taste the sun in the tender flesh. When
strawberries are allowed to ripen on the plant, they are a high
source of vitamin C but useless for shipping. They are high in
potassium, sodium, and iron.

Strawberries are handy if you have to endure second-hand
smoke. The ellagic acid neutralizes and dissolves the
carcinogen, PAH present in cigarette smoke.

Fresh strawberry juice will knock your socks off. Frozen with
honey, they make brightly-colored Popsicles that children just
love. They are easy to juice because you can leave the stems
on. You may find the juice a little thick, so you are welcome
to mix it with other juices such as grape or pineapple. Try to
find a local farmer who grows strawberries in your area. They
are usually found during early summer. Strawberries, out of
season, from California are not as sweet but are still good for
juicing. Always store in refrigerator in open paper bag.

TANGERINES

Tangerines are in the mandarin family. An excellent lunch box
delight. Easy to peel, wonderfully sweet and highly nutritious.
A small tangerine will have more usable vitamin C than a
large orange. People who have a difficult time digesting
oranges find tangerines more agreeable. Also an excellent
source of B1.

Tangerines are seasonal and can be found from November
through to February. Satsuma, Kinnow and the popular
Clementine are sister fruits and are delicious. Can be stored at
room temperature or in the refrigerator and are best eaten
within a week.

WATERMELONS

There is nothing more refreshing than a slice of watermelon
on a hot day. Why, it is even better than beer- legal to eat in
a public place and does not result in a nasty hangover. For
$2.50, you can produce a mother-load of juice. And whereas
eating the rind would be hard on the stomach, juicing it is a
wonderful source of chlorophyll, vitamin A, protein,
potassium, zinc, iodine, nucleic acids and enzymes that aid in
digestion.

Ninety-five percent of all the nutritional content of
watermelon is in the rind. Thump watermelons with your
knuckles and if it sounds hollow, it's going to taste sweet.
They should be dark green in color, dull, rather than shiny and
their underbellies should have a pale yellow color. Store
whole watermelons in a cool place.

Go to Course 3: The Amazing World of Vegetables, Part 1.

Go to previous Course 1: The Amazing Word of Fruit Part 1 .