Mango Gossip "King of Fruit"

Lately I've been hearing alot of gossip about the Mango or "King of Fruit". First of all, the mango is originally from Asia and is the most consumed fruit in the WORLD! The top producer of mangos is India and they eat 99% of the fruit. In India it is considered a symbol of love, no wonder they keep all they produce. Did you know that the mango is a distant relative to the cashew and pistachio? Now this surprised me, it has 1000 varieties, that mango surely gets around.

The top 5 varieties are:
Kent - 1944 FL (descendant of Brooks)
Tommy Atkins - 1920 FL
Haden - 1910 FL (Mulgoba from India)
Ataulfo - Indonesian from Hawaii (descendant of Manila from Mexico)
Keitt - 1945 FL (Mulgoba from India)

Some nutrients found in Mango:
Vitamin A
Vitamin C
Vitamin E
Potassium
Vitamin B6
Cooper

The health benefits of "the King" are protection from a variety of cancers, like colon, breast, leukemia, and prostate. Help with blood pressure from the potassium. The vitamin A is good for night vision and bone growth, while Vitamin C is good for a healthy immune system. For more about mangos please see my YouTube video below:

On the weekend, we went to a Farmers Market in Immokalee, FL to see what we could find. Among other things we purchased a box of Haden mangos from Peru as the FL season is in the summer. The Peru mango is delicious, the only problem is I have been eating one a day with my husband! The mango is my favorite fruit so I doubt we'll have any left by Saturday. Does that mean there's another road trip around the corner? 

Superfood Strawberry in Season

Run (don't walk) to the nearest grocery store for your stash of strawberries. They are a bargain considering all the benefits they offer. The Florida variety is out there! What is a superfood anyway? To keep it simple, just remember a superfood is LOADED with nutrients and has many health benefits.

If you really want to know, the nutrients found in strawberries are: vitamin C, manganese, fiber, iodine, potassium, folate, B vitamins, omega 3 fatty acids, vitamin K, magnesium, and  copper. 

The health benefits of strawberries are:

• improve memory
• heart healthy (decrease total & "Lousy" LDL cholesterol)
• anti-inflammatory
• anti-cancer
• decrease age-related macular degeneration
• lower blood pressure &
• protection from rheumatoid arthritis

Ways you can enjoy strawberries in your diet are endless. You can include them at mealtimes or snacks and even desserts (shhh, I didn't say that).

Breakfast: top your cereal with them, add them to a smoothie

Lunch: add them to your salad of spinach, walnuts, salmon & more

Dinner: add them to a parfait of low-fat yogurt & pecans

Dessert: top plain yellow cake & if you want add light whipped cream

Snack- grab a handful anytime

Treat-dip in dark chocolate, it's a superfood if it's dark! Look for at least 70% cacao.

Remember strawberries can also be enjoyed frozen and freeze-dried! I love the cereal that comes with freeze-dried strawberries, but I feel they don't put enough. You can find freeze-dried strawberries on my Amazon aStore.

In case you are in this area, the Florida Strawberry Festival will be in full force March 3 - 13 in Plant City Florida (near Tampa). Also strawberries are on sale at Publix thru March 2, you get 3 one pound containers for $5! Not bad at all for something so good and healthy.

What are some ways you enjoy your strawberries? Or do you have any memories of strawberry picking?

Please share this post with your friends and family as strawberry will not wait, get them while they last.