Healthy Juices You've Never Heard Of
It's always fun to discover new fruit juices that hail from places you've always wanted to visit. Trying a new fruit can be almost like taking a miniature culinary vacation — when you try an element of another country's cuisine, you can experience a tasty little piece of their culture. Additionally, these fruits come packed with health benefits that are worth the extra effort you may have to expend in order to get ahold of them.
Healthy Juices You've Never Heard Of (Slideshow)
Even though we're always on the lookout for the next açaí berry, it's worth remembering that plenty of domestic fruits, like blackberries, cantaloupes, and even plain old apples, have health benefits of which you may be unaware. Blackberries are packed with anthocyanin, which has been shown to have cancer-fighting properties, while cantaloupes are very low in calories and are high in beta-carotene, which can help with macular degeneration and sun sensitivities. Apples are not generally considered the healthiest fruits for dieters, since they are full of carbs and relatively caloric, but they also contain antioxidants known as flavonoids, which may help prevent varicose veins, cataracts, and asthma.
Remember that the longer fruit stays in your fridge, the less nutritious it becomes. Try getting fruit from the farmer's market as much as possible (although such adventures don't fit into everyone's packed schedules). The fruit from farmer's markets is generally superior both in flavor and freshness; it hasn't been sitting out for days (or even weeks!), unlike the kind you get at the grocery store.
Exotic, healthy "superfruits" have become ubiquitous — while very few people in the United States had ever heard of açaí or goji berries ten years ago, they're now extremely popular ingredients in juices and snacks. The reason? They're both delicious and packed with health benefits.
Colorful goji berries really are the cure for what ails you: filled with vitamins B, C, and E, there's research that suggests these trendy berries can boost your metabolism and fill you with purposeful energy (as opposed to the nervous energy of coffee). While you can eat the berries fresh or dried, they're also wonderful in a smoothie or juiced. Açaí berries are also full of antioxidants, especially anthocynanin, that miraculous antioxidant that's also found in blackberries — except that in the açaí, these antioxidants are found in much higher concentration. Açaí is also a great source of heart-healthy fats that can lower bad cholesterol, as well as necessary fiber.
Those new superfruits are wonderful, but there are plenty of other healthy fruits you may be unaware of, and they offer a range of benefits, from increasing brain and nerve health to improving your skin tone. Take a look at our list to learn about delicious, healthy fruits that your body and your taste buds crave.
Cupuaçu
Andrew Zimmerman refers to this drink as the "pharmacy of the rainforest." He claims that it destroys free radicals and can improve your skin. The juice tastes like pear with a hint of banana.
Cherimoya
Mark Twain called cherimoya "the most delicious fruit known to men." Its flavor is a cross between a pineapple and a banana, but the texture is more like a mushy pear. In addition to juicing, this fruit can also be made into a great sorbet.