Category Archive: Nutritional Information of Fruits

I am a nutty mummy. I love anything that has coconut in it. Whether it is plain coconut water, coconut milk, coconut flesh or grated coconut meat, I am game for it!  The other day I bought a packet of grated coconut meat to go with steamed lin goe. As it was a big packet, there was a surplus of grated coconut meat. Knowing that grated coconut meat will turn rancid or bad very quickly, I finished off the grated coconut meat by adding it on everything that I ate that day… from my breakfast to my dinner!

Here’s my breakfast – toasted homemade pumpkin bread with butter and grated coconut! As for dinner, I sprinkled the grated coconut generously over my kids’ rice and dishes of grilled salmon fish, omelette and long beans!

Oh, did you know that coconut is not a nut but a fruit?

Food For Thought :

Coconut as a Weight-Loss Assistant
Coconut increases the metabolic rate of the body, which means that energy is consumed faster and excess body weight is burned off. This process is completely natural, and doesn’t cause the body any harm.

Coconut prevents weight and obesity problems by speeding up the metabolism.

Coconut as a Beautifying Agent
Coconut contains a PH that is good for the skin, supporting the natural chemical balance of the skin. It softens the skin and helps to relieve dryness and flaking. Coconut can prevent wrinkles, sagging skin and age spots.

Coconut promotes healthy looking hair and helps to control dandruff. For both the skin and hair, coconut protects from the damaging, aging effects of the sun.

Coconut for Kids
Coconut contains many of the vitamins and minerals essential for healthy growth in children.

It improves calcium and magnesium absorption and supports the development of strong bones and teeth. Coconut helps to protect the skin from the harmful effects of the sun, while promoting a healthy complexion and beautiful hair.

This nut is a tasty boost of energy for kids.

Coconut for Relieving Complaints and Illnesses
Coconut kills the contagious viruses that cause the common cold, influenza, hepatitis C, measles and herpes.

As an antibacterial, it kills the bacteria that cause ulcers, throat infections, urinary tract infections, gum disease and cavities, pneumonia, and gonorrhea, and other diseases.

It also has antifungal agents that kill fungi and yeasts that cause candidiasis, ringworm, athlete’s foot, thrush, diaper rash, and other infections.

Expels or kills tapeworms, lice, giardia, and other parasites.

Coconut relieves stress on the pancreas and enzyme systems of the body, therefore reducing the symptoms associated with pancreatitis.

For diabetics, coconut relieves the symptoms and health risks associated with diabetes.

It reduces the problems associated with melabsorption syndrome and cystic fibrosis.

Coconut helps to relieve the symptoms associated with gallbladder disease, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis and stomach ulcers.

It improves digestion and bowel function, solving the complaints of diarrhea or constipation.

Coconut also reduces the symptoms associated the psoriasis, eczema, and dermatitis.

Coconut as a Preventive Measure against Disease

Coconut helps to protect the body against osteoporosis, kidney disease, liver disease and bladder infections. It also protects the body from breast, colon and other cancers.

Coconut is heart healthy; it improves the cholesterol ratio and protects the arteries from injury that causes atherosclerosis, therefore reducing the risk of heart disease.

It helps to prevent periodontal disease and tooth decay.

Coconut also helps to protect the body from harmful free radicals that promote premature aging and degenerative disease.

Coconut isn’t just a versatile tropical nut that adds flavor to curries, soups, stews and desserts; it is also a highly beneficial health food.

Upon recommendation of a friend, I got myself a bottle of Bilberry to improve my vision and to reduce the tiredness of my eyes.  I chose Blackmores, which is my most trusted brand for supplements. A bottle of 60 tabs cost RM75, or equivalent to RM1.25 per tab!  Pretty costly but worth a try and definitely cheaper than going for Lasik!  After my visit to the pharmacy to get the Bilberry, I went to the optician to have my eyes checked.  It seems my eye sight has not deteriorated but I wouldn’t trust the accuracy of the machine.  Alycia and Sherilyn had their eye sight checked too, both by the eye-sight checker machine as well as manually. The results were very contradicting.  The machine showed that Alycia had a power of over 100 for short sightedness but the manual check showed that her eye sight is perfect – she could see even the smallest number at the bottom.  As for Sherilyn, the machine showed that she had no power but in the manual check, she could not see clearly a few numbers and letters.  Anyway, I shall see how effective the Bilberry tabs are before turning to the opthalmologist.

Bilberry Health Benefits:

Some of the main constituents of bilberry are anthocyanins, other flavonoids, iridoids glycosides (asperuloside and monotropein) and phenolic acids as well as catechol tannins and proanthocyanidins.

The most well-known health property of his herb is perhaps how bilberry benefits the eyes. The anthocyanins are thought to be effective in treating a variety of eye-related ailments, and have vision-boosting and vision improving properties.

More information regarding bilberry eye health effects are discussed in another related bilberry article.

The medicinal and healing properties of this herbal medicine include astringent, anti-inflammatory, anti-septic, and anti-oxidant properties.

It reduces the levels of blood lipids and glucose. It is also considered an effective antimicrobial, antiviral, anti-exudative and anti-ulcerous agent. This attributes bilberry with the ability to improve permeability of capillaries and greatly enhances wound healing, and also gives it blood thinning properties.

Due to high anti-oxidant content of bilberries (main antioxidant being anthocyanocides), they are prescribed for disease prevention and immune-boosting supplements to improve overall health and promote longevity. In this regard, the health benefits of bilberry can be quite wide-ranging.

Bilberry health benefits also include combating vascular disorders, where bilberries are found to be effective in treating varicose veins, blood clotting (thrombosis) and angina. Anthocyanocides help prevent heart disease by strengthening capillaries, prevent the blood from clotting and also stimulate release of vasodilators. All this helps in greatly improving heart function and good health.

Also, another bilberry health benefit is its ability to lower blood pressure and improve blood supply to the nerves. This too contributes to overall organ health and improved overall health.

Bilberry contains glucoquinine which is effective in lowering blood sugar. Bilberry leaf tea is high in chromium and this too is said to reduce blood sugar levels. The leaves and berries are often used in homeopathic medicine for the treatment of diabetes.

From the sixteenth century to this day, bilberry is often used as an antidote to digestive problems like nausea, indigestion and diarrhea.

Bilberry has also been used to treat inflammation and ulcers in the mucous membranes of the mouth and throat.

Dried bilberry fruit and bilberry tea have been used as a treatment for diarrhea and as a relief for nausea and indigestion. Bilberry tea is used to soothe the digestive tract. In combination with honey, a syrupy concoction of bilberry has been used as a soothing remedy for the treatment of diarrhea and other common stomach ailments.

Bilberry is known to have been used as a soothing, remedial treatment for sore throats. Traditionally, one bilberry health benefit is that a gargle or tea made from dried bilberries has provided immediate relief for sore throat.

Bilberry has also been used traditionally in the treatment of diabetes, fibrocystic breast disease, and painful menstruation.

Further, bilberries are used as a food / dietary supplement and used in making preserves, bilberry jams, wines and liqueurs.

My hubs would normally order extra fragrant coconuts for his functions as we are all coconut water guzzlers! We love the refreshing and sweet taste of coconut water. Plus we know that coconut water is loaded with health promoting goodness.  Coconut water is very good for Cassandra as coconut water is known to be a remedy for urinary tract and kidney disorders. Coconut water is sterile as the water has to permeate through the layers of filtering husks. Some articles say that coconut water is even more nutritious than milk as it is low in cholesterol and fat and it contains lauric acid, which is present in human mother’s milk. Coconut water is also safe for babies and infants. Coconut water is also a universal donor, as it is identical to human blood plasma.

Baby is very happy here as she can guzzle down coconut water from the whole coconut, all by herself… and she does not have to drink milk before going to bed.

Good for Alycia too as she loves eating spicy food and coconut water helps to ‘cool down’ the body.

Many, many years ago, there was a tall guava tree outside our house. It was my favorite tree as I would climb the tree and stay up there for a long time. Sometimes I would pluck ripe guavas and sometimes I would hang from branch to branch like a monkey! That old guava tree bore many fruits and we had ample supply of sweet guavas year long. My late maternal grandma would make guava juice for herself a few times in a week to treat her high blood pressure and diabetes. Till today, I still like guavas very much. But I had recently read from a blogger that eating guavas will naturally stop you from lactating. So I have stopped eating guavas but will still munch on them once in a while.

Guavas are a storehouse of nutrients and can be used to treat the following conditions:

* Diarrhea & Dysentery: Guava is very rich in astringents (compounds those make your gums feel tighter and fresh after you chew guava leaves or eat a raw guava or use some toothpaste) which binds up loose bowels in diarrhea. These astringents are alkaline in nature and have disinfectant and anti-bacterial properties, thus help cure dysentery by inhibiting microbial growth and removing extra mucus from the intestines. Further, other nutrients in guava, such as vitamin-C, Carotenoids and potassium strengthens and tones up the digestive system and disinfect it. Guava is also beneficial in gastroenteritis due to reasons stated above.

* Constipation: Guava is one of the riches sources of dietary fiber. Its seeds, if ingested whole or chewed, serve as excellent laxatives. These two properties of guava help forming bowels, retaining water and clean your intestines and excretory system thoroughly. It is said that single constipation can lead to seventy two types of ailments. It is absolutely true. Every way to your total health goes through proper digestion and more importantly, proper excretion. Guava ensures both of these.

* Cough & Cold: Juice of raw and immature guavas or decoction of guava-leaves is very helpful in giving relief in cough and cold by loosening cough, reducing mucus, disinfecting the respiratory tract, throat and lungs and inhibiting microbial activity due to its astringent properties. Guava is one of richest in vitamin-C and iron which are proven to be preventive against cold and viral infections. In some areas in India, roasted ripe guava is used as a remedy against extreme cases of cough and cold and congestion.

* Skin Care: Guavas can help improve your skin texture and avoid skin problems more than the best of beauty creams or skin toner gels can do. This is chiefly due to the abundance of astringents in its fruits (more in immature ones) and in leaves. You can benefit from it either by eating the fruits (this help tighten your muscles apart from your skin) or by washing your skin with the decoction of its immature fruits and leaves. It will tone up and tighten the loosened skin. In addition to the astringents, guava is very-very rich in vitamin-A, B, C and potassium which are very good anti oxidants and detoxifiers and keep your skin glowing and free from aging, wrinkles and other disorders.

* High Blood Pressure: Guava helps reduce cholesterol in blood and prevents it from thickening, thereby maintaining fluidity of blood and reducing blood pressure. Studies have shown that food stuffs which lack fiber (such a refined flour) add to blood pressure, due to quick conversion to sugar. Guava, being very rich in fiber and hypoglycemic in nature, helps reduce blood pressure.

* Weight Loss: Guava is very helpful for those who want to lose weight without compromising with their intake of proteins, vitamins and fiber. Guava, being very high in roughage and very rich in vitamins, proteins and minerals, but with no cholesterol and less digestible carbohydrates, is very filling and satisfies appetite very easily. Just have a medium sized guava in the lunch and you will not feel hungry till night. But ironically, it helps gaining weight in lean and thin people. This is probably due to its richness in nutrients, which keeps your metabolism right helping proper absorption of nutrients.

* Scurvy: Guava can outdo many other fruits, including orange and other citrus fruits, when it comes to concentration of vitamin-C, whose deficiency causes scurvy and which is the only remedy to it. It contains five times the vitamin-C in oranges.

* Other Benefits: The juice of the leaves cures toothache, swollen gums & oral ulcers, heals wounds when applied externally, convulsions, epilepsy, bacterial infections and much more.