Mango fruits can vary in shape, being anything from oval to round, or even kidney-shaped. In the United States, there are about six main varieties available. These include Haden, Keitt, Kent, and Tommy Atkins.

Native to southern and southeastern Asia, these declicious fruits are grown in India, Burma, and the Andaman Islands. India provides about seventy-five per cent of all the mangoes grown these days. Mexico and China come next as mango growers.

Full of nutrients like vitamins A and C, mangoes also have vitamin K and potassium. Not only that, there are a variety of antioxidants and carotenes in mangoes. The greener, less ripe mangoes have more vitamin C, but fully ripe mangoes have more beta-carotene. Either way you’re getting a fruit with healthy benefits.

Another great thing about mangoes is the fact they are one of the fruits considered least likely to have any harmful pesticide residue on them.

If you don’t know how to choose one of these reddish-yellowish-green fruits, don’t depend on the color to tell you if the mango is ripe. Look for a slightly soft fruit for a mango you want to eat soon. The skin should give a little when pressed, and the mango should smell sweet at the stem end of the fruit.

If you aren’t going to be eating it for a few days, pick a firm fruit. It will continue to ripen if kept at room temperature. Once it’s ripe, store it in the refrigerator. They’ll keep for about five days once refrigerated. They can also be frozen, and make a great addition to smoothies then.

Once you’re ready to eat the mango, use a paring knife to peel it. Do not eat the skin as it can make you sick! Once you’ve got it peeled, slice it, working around the large pit in the middle.
You can eat mangoes fresh, frozen, or dried. They are a tasty addition to salads, and can also be used in nectars, jams, and jellies. Mangoes make excellent desserts and grilled mangoes are a tropical treat.

Mangoes are an easy health food to add to your diet. Whatever way you decide to eat them, do NOT leave that mango behind in the grocery store!

Post from: Health Food Made Easy

Mango Benefits Are Many!

It’s getting close to Thanksgiving, the time when most people think of fresh cranberries. The words “cranberry” and “Thanksgiving” just seem to go together.

Of course, women are also apt to think of cranberries at other times of the year If they suffer from a UTI (Urinary Tract Infection), knowing that cranberry juice helps. But by and large, most of the time we equate cranberries with Thanksgiving.

And that’s too bad. Cranberries are a super health food. We should be eating them year round!

Cranberries Nutrition

What’s so great about cranberries?

Well, for one thing, they’re rich in fiber. That’s always a good thing to keep the old digestive system moving.

They’re also rich in vitamin C, vitamin K and manganese. They contain several phytonutrients. In fact, cranberry juice ranks among the highest juices for antioxidants. (Just FYI, Concord Grape juice tops the list.)

Cranberries Health Benefits

And yes, studies have shown that drinking cranberry juice to help a UTI isn’t just an old wives tale. It really works.

Not only that, studies are showing cranberries have antibacterial properties.

“We are beginning to get a picture of cranberry juice and, in particular, the tannins found in cranberries, as potentially potent antibacterial agents,” Camesano said. “These results are surprising and intriguing, particularly given the increasing concern about the growing resistance of certain disease-causing bacteria to antibiotics.”

Multiple studies have shown that some of the phytonutrients in cranberries, flavonoids, are helpful in the fight against cancer, heart disease, and periodontal disease.

Cranberry nutrients are also good for digestive health. Cranberry juice inhibits the bacteria H. pylori that is associated with peptic ulcers, stomach cancer, and gastritis.

Eat Cranberries!

Cranberries are one of the few fruits native to the United States. They’re at their peak from October through December. These facts are probably the biggest reasons cranberries and Thanksgiving just seem to go together.

Fresh cranberries have the most beneficial nutrients, but frozen cranberries are a great substitute. (Hint: buy bags of fresh cranberries when they’re on sale after Thanksgiving and throw them in your freezer.) Also, cranberry juice and dried cranberries can be found year round.

However you choose to eat cranberries, they’re full of good stuff, so include them in your diet year round as another easy health food!

Post from: Health Food Made Easy

Fresh Cranberries Aren’t Just For Thanksgiving

If you want an easy healthy food, you can’t go wrong with healthy bananas! They come prepackaged by Mother Nature, full of goodness like potassium. All you have to do is peel and eat.

There are actually two main types of bananas, the sweet banana, which is what we usually see in the stores and eat fresh. The other kind is the plantain banana, which is usually cooked. It is becoming more readily available in supermarkets.

Although we usually see sweet bananas with yellow skins, they do come in different colors. When ripe, they can be red, pink, black or purple.

What’s So Great About Banana Foods?

Bananas not only have a lot of potassium, they also have manganese. Besides having those minerals, they are a good source of vitamins B6 and C, plus they have a lot of fiber. This makes bananas a very healthy food indeed!

This easy healthy food is also full of antioxidants. What’s interesting is the fact that as bananas ripen, the level of antioxidants increases, so the riper the banana, the more antioxidants it has.

Choosing And Storing Bananas

What’s you best choice of bananas? Well, it depends on what you want to do with them. If you want to eat them fairly quickly, choose bananas that are completely yellow. However, if you want them to last longer, choose green bananas.

You can delay the ripening of green bananas by putting them in the refrigerator.  The peels will turn black but the flesh remains good.

On the other hand, if you want to speed up the ripening process, put the bananas in a bowl sitting in sunshine. You can also place them in a brown paper bag with a piece of apple or tomato to make them ripen faster.

Tips For Banana Foods

Besides eating bananas fresh, they can also be used for cooking and baking and combined with all kinds of other foods. They’re a great addition to smoothies, adding a fuller body and texture to the drink. And who hasn’t heard of banana bread and banana muffins? They’re great in fruit salads, slicked up over a bowl of cereal, and make a great sandwich when paired with peanut butter.

When preparing bananas for recipes, once they are peeled, it’s best to dip them in lemon, lime or orange juice to prevent them from browning if you won’t be serving them right away.

To enhance the taste and smell of bananas, try using them in a recipe that calls for them to be heated.

Healthy Bananas Can Help Sick People

If you have kids, chances are you’ve heard of the BRAT diet. If you’re unfamiliar with it, this is a diet of:

• Bananas
• Rice
• Applesauce
• Toast

These foods are considered to help when someone is suffering from diarrhea. In the past, pediatricians prescribed this diet as the only foods to give children, but nowadays they are more often just incorporated into their regular diet.

Bananas also contain the compounds called protease inhibitors, which help destroy harmful bacteria like H. pylori, which is believed to be the cause of stomach ulcers.

Cheers For Healthy Bananas!

Bananas are versatile and tasty and good for you. They may be the ultimate easy healthy food!

Post from: Health Food Made Easy

Healthy Bananas