Did you know the health benefits of kiwi fruit. It is very rich in many vitamins and minerals. In fact, it is so jam packed with nutrients that it ranks as the most nutrient-rich of the top 26 fruits consumed in the world today.

Children who consume kiwi fruit as part of their regular diet of fruit and veggies have demonstrated additional health benefits to the respiratory tract while adults who enjoy their kiwis will be glad to know that an antimutagenic component present in the fruit helps prevent the mutations of genes that may initiate the cancer process.

Kiwi fruits are also high in dietary fiber which helps diabetics by controlling sugar levels and helping to expel toxic compounds in the colon.

Kiwi fruits tend to be at their best during the summer months as they grow in temperate climates with adequate summer heat but are typically enjoyed all year round.

What is Kiwi Fruit ?

This fruit is very small, and it is only about three inches long.  It is not heavy and it weighs a mere four ounces.  It has a brown outside skin that is fuzzy, and it has a green creamy inside that is sweet yet tangy.  This fruit can be compared to the taste of strawberries, melons, and bananas, yet it has its own type of flavor and does not taste like any other fruit.

Kiwi fruit is low in calories, low in fat, and has no cholesterol.  It has fiber and it also has some natural sugars which give it its great taste.

You can get 273% of your daily recommended value of vitamin C just from one kiwi fruit.  You can also get a good amount of vitamin K, and also vitamin E.  Minerals are found in high amounts in it as well.

This fruit has a long history of being eaten in many other parts of the world. “Kiwi fruit” was actually called “Chinese gooseberry” before it was renamed by New Zealand exporters as renamed it. This fruit was original from China, and known as “Yang Tao”. This fruit was brought to New Zealand by missionaries, during the early 20th  century.

The name of this fruit comes from the word “kiwi” a brown flightless bird and is New Zealand’s national symbol. Other names for this fruit include: Macaque peach, macaque pear, sunny peach, wood berry, hairy bush fruit (use that a bbq for laughs).

China considers this fruit to be its “National Fruit”. The world’s largest producers of kiwi fruit are Italy and New Zealand.

New Zealand produces about 360 thousand metric tons per year.

Nutrients in Kiwi Fruit

This amazing fruit contains many nutrients. It is a major source for Vitamin C and E. It also has small amounts of Vitamin A. The outer-skin of the fruit contains flavonoid antioxidants. The inner black seeds of the fruit contain on average 62% alphalinolenic acid (omega 3 fatty acid). It also a made up of lots of dietary fiber.

This nutrient dense fruit is a great food to take because of many different reasons.  First of all it has a very low glycemic index, which makes it popular among many people.  This is because many people are watching their glycemic index with the foods they eat.  Even though it is mostly made up of carbohydrates, it is still a very popular fruit.

The carbs in this fruit are considered healthy carbs and they break down very quickly in the human body.  There is not a lot of protein in kiwi, only 2 grams which is about 6%.  But there is not a lot of fat found in it either which is very beneficial if you are using it to help you slim down and lose weight.

Sugar is prominent in every fruit we eat so we cannot really avoid it.  The only good thing about the sugar in fruit is that this sugar is all natural.  It is not synthetic, which is not good for the body at all.  Try to keep your sugar levels down to a minimum because sugar is not good for the body in general.

Going back to the fat, there is no saturated fat or trans-fat found in this fruit at all which makes it great for dieters to take because these fats are no good for the body.

What Are The Health Benefits ? Is It Backed Up By Science?

Kiwi fruit has many known health benefits. Some of which include:

• increased healthy immune system
• maximum absorption of nutrients from food and supplements
• regular, faster, and comfortable bowel movements
• increased energy
• improved skin appearance
• and many more…

Other specific health conditions which kiwi fruits are found to benefit are:

• Depression.
• Eye Health/Macular Degeneration.
• Hypertension.
• Impotence.
• Stress Reduction.
• Weight Control.

For example, a study done by the University of Oslo in Norway reported that eating two to three kiwi fruits daily for 28 days, significantly reduces the risk of blood clots.

This fruit also contains what are known as phyto-nutrients.  These nutrients help to protect our DNA from oxidative damage. This fruit has been known for its antioxidant properties for a very long time.  It also contains carotenoids and flavonoids which help make it a very powerful antioxidant.

A study done on 6 to 7 year old children in Italy, showed that the more kiwi these children ate, they were more healthy and didn’t have respiratory problems such as wheezing, shortness of breath, and night coughing. The phyto-nutrients properties of kiwi fruit, could be the explanation for this.

Studies have shown that this fruit contains high amounts of phenolic compounds on its skin.  These compounds are powerful antioxidants that help inhibit the growth of bad bacteria in your body. With lower amounts of these harmful bacteria, your body, specifically your digestive system can start to absorb more nutrients in food.

Lots of Vitamin C

In addition, the fact that it has a lot of vitamin C makes it an even stronger antioxidant.  It can protect our body from disease and even cancer due to these antioxidant properties.  It can help to keep our immune system in working order as well, so it can better protect our body.

According to some studies, having healthy amounts of vitamin C in your body has been shown to be helpful in reducing the symptoms of asthma, rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. Some conditions that it helps in preventing are: colon cancer, and diabetic heart disease.

More Fiber for Your Cardiovascular and Digestive System

Kiwi fruit can also help to keep our digestive tract in line and helps to give us more fiber.  This in turn will help keep away various digestive imbalances and even colon cancer, which is on the rise.  It can help protect our lungs from respiratory problems such as asthma and wheezing as well due to the high amounts of vitamin C.

Researchers have found that diets that contain adequate amounts of fiber can help reduce high cholesterol levels, which helps reduce the risk of heart attack. Fiber is also good for clearing out your colon because the fiber binds to toxins.

This amazing fruit may also reduce your risk for blood clots, and triglycerides (fat) in your blood. Which protects you from potential heart attacks. This fruit is an excellent source of Vitamin C, polyphenols, and potassium. These ingredients work together to help protect your heart, and blood vessels.

Good For Your Eyes Too

According to the Archives of Opthamology, eating 3 or more servings of fruit each day may help lower your risk of eye diseases as you age. The study was done on 110 000 people, and the researchers tracked the consumption of fruits, vegetables for these people who had early onset of neovascular ARMD (a vision loss disease), and their information was received for over 18 years. The result strongly suggests that by eating more fruits daily, that it might help reducing the effects and eliminating degenerative vision loss as you age.

Kiwi Fruit is a Prebiotic

This natural fruit is considered a prebiotic. A prebiotic is a type of food that helps your digestive system produce the good bacteria, that promotes good health.

This is important because if your digestive system has an imbalance of bacteria, e.g. more bad bacteria than good, you might suffer from digestive related health problems.

According to some research, patients who were eating 3 kiwi fruits per day, were showing great improvements in their digestive system.  These people were eating the whole fruit, including the skin (which contains numerous anti-oxidants that I mentioned above).

Tips On Using Kiwi Fruit

Buying and storing

Finding kiwi fruit that gives off gentle pressure is important because that means it is ripe and ready to eat.

You can have kiwi fruit sit out in room temperature to ripen if they are not yet ready.  You can buy kiwi fruit from many supermarkets, and also organic food stores.

Preparation

Eat a kiwi fruit as soon as you cut it open due to the enzymes found in the fruit.  You can put it into a fruit salad, and you can also make a great fruit smoothie using it as well.

Kiwi fruit tarts are healthy and delicious, or you can blend it and cantaloupe together for a cool and refreshing soup.  Also you can serve it alongside other fruits as well for a tasty snack.

Don’t Throw the Skin Away ! Eat It!

In the beginning, I peeled off the kiwi fruit skin, and didn’t eat it. That was a big mistake that I made. By not eating the skin, I was throwing away a lot of good antioxidants and other nutrients that my body needed.

But, how do you eat the skin ? Do you just bite into it like an apple ?

Well, that was one of the things that I had to figure out. The taste and texture of the skin is kinda of like eating a hairy apple skin, and by itself , wasn’t too good. Eating it with the fruit is much better, and I had to get use to it.

Then I figured out that I could blend 3 kiwi fruits and bananas with ice to make a healthy slush drink. That was good, and it helped me get all the nutrients I needed, plus it tasted pretty good.