The watermelon belongs to a large and distinguished family of vines, which includes gourds, squash and cucumbers. While some are trained to climb, the watermelon, with its very large fruit, spreads across the ground. Watermelons can be round, oblong or spherical in shape and feature thick green rinds that are often spotted or striped. Embedded in its deep pink or yellow flesh, are small dark brown or black edible seeds, some 200 to 900 in each fruit. The watermelon is very juicy, its flavor varying from the insipid (lacking of taste) to markedly sweet. It is a popular and refreshing fruit during the hot summers. The juice of the watermelon makes a refreshing drink, and is bottled and canned. The fruit also serves as a popular dessert fruit by itself and in combination with others.
Watermelon seed: Watermelon seeds contain oil, protein and vitamin B. The amount of oil varies from one variety to another; some produce enough to make useful cooking oil. Watermelon seeds contain about 35% protein, 50% oil, and 5% dietary fiber. In Asian countries, roasted watermelon seeds are either seasoned and eaten as a snack food (just like peanut) or ground up into cereal and used to make bread.
Nutritive Values Per 100 gm:
Want a portable, storable, sweet source of iron and potassium? Reach for a package of raisins. One-half cup will supply you with 545 milligrams of potassium, a nutrient that can help keep you feeling energetic. Raisins are grapes that are sundried or oven dried. Raisin is very sweet because it contains 70% pure sucrose (natural form of sugar) easily digested. It is cholesterol-free, low in sodium and totally fat-free.
Nutritive Values: per 100 gm.
Health Benefits:
Buying tip: Whether you are buying dark brown or golden raisins, your healthiest options are the ones that are specifically labeled "organic."
Sardines are the small fish packed in either tin can or glass bottles. Most people eat sardines because it is one of the most convenient food you can eat when you are in a hurry, no preparation required, just simply peel off the thin metal top and enjoy. There is more to this convenient food, sardines is packed with nutrients, "ounce for ounce, sardines provide more calcium and phosphorus than milk, more protein than steak, more potassium than bananas, and more iron than cooked spinach." Probably the greatest nutritional value of sardines resides in their high concentration of omega-3-fatty acids. Omega-3 has been shown to reduce triglyceride levels and play a significant role in preventing dangerous heart abnormalities. There are a variety of ways to eat sardines such as creating a sardine salad, sardine pasta, as sandwich spread, or eating them straight out of the can.
Sardines fact: There is really no such fish as sardine. The name sardine merely refers to a variety of small fish belonging to the herring family. So the small fishes found on store shelves are not true sardine, but another small oily fish in the herring family. Sardines name comes from the Mediterranean island of Sardinia. Another important thing to know is that Sardines are extremely low in contaminants such as mercury unlike the big fishes like salmon and tuna.
Health Benefits:
Things to know when buying Sardines:
Wheatgrass juice which contains chlorophyll, minerals, and vitamins A, B-complex, C, E, and K, protein and 17 amino acids is easily absorbed in human blood, which transports nutrients efficiently to every cell of the body. This makes wheatgrass juice an effective healer. In a study it was found that wheatgrass juice duplicates the molecular structure of hemoglobin, a important part of the blood, and because it is so rich in free-radical scavengers such as provitamin A, it may inhibit cancer.
Health Benefits of Wheatgrass:
The lime is the smallest and probably most widely used fruit amongst the family of citrus. Lime comes from Southeast Asia. The name is of Arabic origin and it is believed that the Arabs most likely introduced it into India and Persia from where it was taken to Europe. Today it is cultivated in many tropical countries such as Florida, Brazil, Mexico and Egypt.
The lime is a small citrus fruit, like a small orange, with skin and flesh that are green in color. The pulp of the lime taste sour, and the fruit contains twice the amount of juice as the yellow, larger lemon. The juice, as a drink, makes one of the best thirst-quenchers. The acid content of lime is known to slow down the oxidation of fresh-cut fruits and vegetables, thus preventing discoloration and acting as a preservative.
Nutritive Values: Per 100 gm.
Health Benefits:
Nutritive Values: Per 100 gm.
Health Benefits:
Tip on how to get the most nutrition from lime:
Use cut lime to remove: Onion and fish odors from your hands, knives and chopping board. Turmeric and ink stains from your fingers and nails.
Buying and Storing Tip:
Precaution: Excessive sucking of fresh lime is also bad for teeth as the acid damages the delicate enamel of the teeth and makes them sensitive. Its excessive use weakens digestion.
Other Uses of Lime:
Soursop is a fruit that has the most delectable flavor. The soursop is a large fruit of a small, fast-growing tree. The fruit is picked from the tree before it has fully ripened as it will be badly bruised if allowed to ripen and fall. The fruit is mature and is ready for eating when it feels slightly soft and is light green externally. The skin is thin and is covered with conical nibs. The white, pulpy flesh, which contains juice, is peppered with small shiny, black inedible seeds, and has a pleasant, sweet-acidic taste. As it is rather fibrous, its squeezed juice makes a better choice, and has, in fact become more popular than the fresh fruit as such. Soursop has few seedless varieties, but they are rare, and tend to have fibrous flesh.
Medicinal Benefits: Soursop is not only a delicious and healthy fruit but it is use medicinally to treat illness ranging from stomach ailments to worms.
Scientific name: Pyrus communis
Pears are delicious fruit that is a member of the rose family and are related to the apples. Pears generally have a large round bottom that tapers towards the top; the skin is yellow, green, brown, red or a combination of two or more of these colors depending on the variety. We usually think of pear as bell-shaped, but some varieties are shaped almost like a rounded apple. Like apples, pears have a core that features several seeds. Its size is about that of an apple with several seeds in the core, like an apple. The skins vary in color yellow, green, brown, red, or a combination of any of these colors.The white-yellowish color flesh of pears is juicy, sweet and usually mild. Some varieties have grainy flesh.
Pear generally contains iron but some variety has more iron content than others. This can be seen when a cut pear turns brown. If it doesn't turn brown, it means that the iron content is very low or non-existent.
Pear varieties that is commonly available in the market:
Nutritive Values: Per 100 gm.
Buying and Storing: Choose deep colored and firm pears, but not too hard. They should have a smooth skin that is free of bruises or molds. To hasten the ripening, store them at room temperature for a few days to soften and ripen. If you will not be consuming the pears immediately once they have ripened, you can store them in the refrigerator where they can remain fresh for a few days. Pears for juicing are best kept in the refrigerator for up to a week. Over-ripe pears are mushy and are not suitable for juicing.
Nutritive Values : Per 100 gm.
