Vitamin C and Kiwi! (Hey That Rhymes, Sort Of)

The other day in a conversation with my dad he informed me that according to him we are currently in a "limbo" period with the seasons. It is not Winter, but it is not yet Spring. It is not warm, but it is no longer bone-chillingly cold. Spring birds are chirping (as I mentioned in the last post) and geese are flying around honking as if to say "We're back, we're back- pull out your flip flops because Winter is over!"

I have to say I think that my dad might have something there. I like the idea of a limbo period because it makes these last, lingering Winter days a little easier to bear (after all, it's not even Winter, right?). One thing I have noticed that occurs during this in-between time---let's call it Winting; or should it be Wintering, Springter, Sprinter?--- is that people tend to get sick. I think it has something to do with the switch from cold to warm, but I'm no doctor. However, I do know that a little extra Vitamin C can help your immune system fight off some of the bugs. And by a little, I don't mean 1000mg provided by one of those powdered Vitamin C products. There's almost enough in there to cure an entire village of scurvy! (kidding of course).

The average male only needs about 90mg/day of Vitamin C and the average woman only needs 75mg/day. That's a HUGE difference from the marketed 1000mg! What some consumers don't realize is that Vit. C is a water-soluble vitamin, meaning that whatever the body doesn't need can be easily excreted in the--how can I say this politely?--lavatory.

Since this post is getting kind of long, let me just cut to the chase. As long as you eat a healthy diet most of the time, you should be able to get the RDA (Recommended Dietary Allowance) for Vitamin C. Foods that are kind enough to give the gift of this nutrient include: Oranges (1 provides 98mg), cooked brussels sprouts (1 cup= 97mg), strawberries (1 cup= 94 mg), kiwi (1 provides 57mg), and the list goes on.

I bought these at Sam's for $4 and some change.

At the grocery, kiwi are usually about $0.50 a pop.

This was a deal considering there were 15 kiwi,

making them each about $0.30 or less!

I wanted to shine the spotlight on the cute, fuzzy kiwi because not only does it taste great, but the 57mg+ it gives up from a tiny little fruit is pretty impressive. I don't think people really give kiwi the recognition it deserves: it's beautiful, tastes amazing, high in Vitamin C, good source of potassium and fiber, and also contains an enzyme called actinidin that can be used to tenderize meat (rub cut fruit on meat and let rest 30 min. before cooking).

Wow- sorry for the long post!! I could keep going, but I think I'll stop to save all of our sanity- Have a wonderful Friday!