Kiwifruit: A Health Powerhouse
Kiwifruit is a small, nutrient-dense fruit that packs a stunning amount of health benefits.
It’s an amazing source of vitamin C, and has almost the same amount of potassium by weight than a banana. It’s also a good source of Vitamin E, and contains a small amount of Vitamin A.
That’s only if you consider the green flesh, if you take into account also the black seeds you’ll get an average of over 60% of Omega-3 ALA acid.
Furthermore, the inner white part of this fruit packs so much fiber, it’s been reported to have mild laxative effects.
Considering such an awesome nutritional profile - which rightfully grants kiwifruit the status of superfood - one would expect kiwifruit to be much more popular than it actually is.
Unfortunately, especially in the US, kiwifruit is not much sought after by consumers.
So what I'm trying to do here is try to convince you to include kiwifruit in your diet.
Some background
Kiwifruit is native to southern China. In the early 20th century kiwifruit’s seeds were introduced in New Zealand, and afterwards to the rest of the world.
As of today, the cultivation of this fruit represent the major horticultural export earner in New Zealand. However, it’s Italy that holds the crown of top producer of kiwifruit worldwide.
In the US kiwifruit was not widespread distributed until the ‘80s. Nowadays, California produces a considerable amount of this fruit, but there’s still room for growth.
Nutritional profile
One medium kiwifruit yields 46 calories, with less than one gram of fat, 2 grams of fiber, 7 grams of sugar and 1 gram of protein.
Kiwifruit has 117% of the daily RDA of Vitamin C, is a very good source of Vitamin K, and a good source Vitamin E, Potassium, and Copper.
Source: http://nutritiondata.self.com
Packed with antioxidants
A green protein smoothie, they add a slight sour/bittery kick that I enjoy.
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