I’ve been making fresh juices and smoothies for years, but rarely take the time to step back and delve into the background of what I eat or drink! Recently I was very surprised to discover these unusual facts about many of the fruits and veggies we all commonly use. Hope you enjoy this brief little voyage of discovery as much as I did!
Did You Know…
- Coconut is a fruit, not a nut. It’s an important point for people with food allergies because even though there are a few documented reactions to coconut, most people with nut allergies can safely eat coconut. For delicious juice and smoothie recipes with coconut go here. And just click the other links below for additional delicious and healing recipes with no added sweeteners!
- Bell peppers are fruit! The definition of a fruit is food that grows from a flower and has seeds. Thus, peppers, squash, cucumbers, and pumpkins are really the fruit!
- Bananas are berries! The definition of a berry is fruit that grows from a single flower in the female part of the plant. So are bananas and kiwis!
- Some nutrients are more powerful steamed! Broccoli will lower your cholesterol more if steamed, but its proven cancer-fighting compounds are more potent fresh!
- Avocados are fruit! They also have a lot of fat, but it’s the good kind that actually lowers cholesterol!
- Potatoes have more potassium than bananas! We need it to strengthen muscle and for healthy blood pressure.
- Tomatoes are fruit. However, according to US tax law, they are veggies! So the next time you’re on “Jeopardy!” tomato is the only food that is both a fruit and veggie!
- For more calcium, eat figs! A cup of figs has more calcium than a cup of milk.
- Blackberries are not berries! They are really tiny individual fruits. And so are strawberries and raspberries!
- Kiwis have twice the vitamin C as oranges – the most in the fruit world. But for the most vitamin C in the entire plant world? Cabbage!
- Ever notice a sweet smell when you cut or bite into an apple? That’s because it’s in the same family as the rose. Other family members include pears, plums, and cherries!
- Baby carrots aren’t babies at all! They are actually full-grown – a variety of carrot that grows tiny!
Do you have other interesting food facts to share? Let me know at [email protected] so I can add it to this list and immortalize you by giving you credit! Here’s a fun contribution from Jane out there in Indiana: coffee is in the plant family Rubiaceae which is a huge household with more than 6,000 member species! One of them is the wonderfully smelling gardenia! Who’d have thought that coffee is a relative of the gardenia?