Healthy skin: Beauty assisting smoothie

Do you want to get your body fat under control and make your skin to look beautiful, glowing and spotless? Ah… did someone say, No!?   That is right, I did not think so. Here is something I have been experimenting on myself, and I swear this works : You will need to give some love to:


Young coconut water, papaya, and pineapple. It is the beauty-fruit trio that is powerful enough to change your life.  

If you have been following my letters, you already know that I am very much pro fresh, raw, organic vegetable and fruit. I advocate eating seasonal fruit since the harvesting of the unripe fruits and their refrigeration diminishes the nutritional value. Do not be confused between the local seasonal and seasonal fruit. In Michigan, for example, you will be very limited with your choices of the locally grown seasonal fruits.  But, when the season is over in Michigan, the other parts of USA start or continue harvesting. So, we should know who is harvesting, what fruits, at what time of the year to help us to make the right choices while food-shopping. That is the part that always frustrated me, not knowing how to choose fruits and vegetables that are in season. I know that in Michigan we harvest apples in the fall, and I know that pumpkins are picked the week before Halloween, cherries are ready in May, and the blueberries are available in early June. I try to keep my orientation by keeping track of the local farms’ Fresh Produce stations. However, when the gardening season is over in MI, I have no idea how to choose the fruits in season on the shelves of the supermarket. By the time all of the imported fruits and vegetables have reached the United States, it has been days, maybe even weeks. Most of these items are picked before they were ripe. So, eating seasonal fruit should be preferential, in my opinion. However, I absolutely agree with your thinking right now, it is not always convenient and easy. Well, as long as we try our best, I guess.

There are plenty of fruits and vegetables that are in season, here in the United States, each season of the year. Here is what I found that is true for USA supermarkets, not every single fruit is listed, but this should give us a good spectrum:

January: oranges, grapefruit, tangerines, lemons, papayas

February: oranges, grapefruits, lemons, papayas

March: pineapples, mangoes

April: pineapples, mangoes

May: cherries, pineapples, apricots

June: watermelon, strawberries, cantaloupe, cherries, blueberries, peaches, apricots

July: watermelon, strawberries, cantaloupe, blueberries, peaches, apricots, kiwi, raspberries, plums

August: watermelon, strawberries, cantaloupe, blueberries, peaches, apricots, kiwi, raspberries, plums

September: grapes, pomegranates

October: cranberries, apples, pomegranates, grapes

November: cranberries, oranges, tangerines, pears, pomegranates

December: pears, oranges, grapefruit, tangerines, papayas, pomegranates

Bananas, coconuts - in season all year long

Today, I am going to give you the recipe for a smoothie that contains the best enzyme-antioxidant cocktail, in my opinion. 

Let’s quickly go over the benefits:
Young coconut - 1 cup - 50 cal. The young coconut is one of the most important fruits within the tropics because of its potassium and mineral rich water. Besides being highly nutritious, young coconuts have medicinal qualities for heart, liver and kidney disorders. The coconut is a natural water filter that takes almost 9 months to filter each liter of water. The water travels through many fibers being purified where it is stored away sterile in the nut itself. The young coconut water is one of the highest sources of electrolytes. Coconut water is identical to human blood plasma which makes it the universal donor. Plasma makes up 55% of human blood. By drinking coconuts we give ourselves an instant blood transfusion.  Many people’ lives have been saved in 3rd world countries by the coconut IV.

Coconuts in their young stage are the most health enhancing. They are sold "cleaned", like in the picture, and labeled Young Coconut.

Papaya: Papayas come in various shapes and sizes: the Hawaiian variety are smaller and are pear-shaped, while Caribbean and Asian papayas are long and large. Both are delicious. When shopping for a ripe papaya, look for skin that is turning from green to yellow. Parts of the papaya may look bruised - this is normal. Papaya was called "fruit of the angels" by Christopher Columbus. Fresh papaya improves digestion and prevents heart disease, arthritis, lung disease, and eye disorders. Full of antioxidants and loaded with vitamins and minerals, papaya is your fruit- angel. Papaya is high in: vitamins C, A, K, E, plus magnesium, folate, beta carotene, and lutein, and more. Remember from my earlier letters: Vitamin A is required for maintaining healthy mucus membranes and skin. Here you go: eat plenty of it and you will be on your way to have beautiful skin! Papaya is very low in calories (just 39 cal/100 g.)

Pineapple: 1 cup (chopped) 80 calories. Let’s keep it at that to control the sugars. Pineapples are 15% sugar along with malic and citric acids. The one cup (chopped) will give you 130% of vitamin C. The pineapple “fruit” is not really a fruit at all but is a mass of individual berries fused to the central stalk.  This is why the “fruit” has leaves on top.  I do not know why I am saying this to you, may be because I just found that out….  Anyhow:  pineapple is loaded with antioxidants, vitamins and minerals including vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium, phosphorus, and potassium; it is also rich in fiber. This “not fruit” will help out body to fight aging, assist in digestion, strengthen our bones, alleviate symptoms of arthritis. 

Well, I could probably write more about the benefits, but I think this was a good start and we are ready to make the supper-beauty-assistant smoothie:

1 cup of chopped pineapple

2 cups of chopped papaya

1 cup of Young Coconut water (buy the young coconut, crack it and drain the water.)

Squeeze some lemon juice

Pinch of sea salt

Ice cubes

Please enjoy at least three times a week as a replacement to your conventional snack.

 

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