Fruit

You may have tried Fuji apples, for example - these should be big and sweet. Or satsuma oranges, from the area in the South of Japan now called Kagoshima (formerly Satsuma) - the Japanese call them mikan.

In my experience a lot of fruit in Japan tends to be bigger than at home - no doubt the climate makes a difference as well as the variety. Certainly the fresh figs are much bigger than the tiny specimens we see in our shops. They also have a type of black grape called kyoho which are enormous, very sweet and juicy (and expensive!) although very small red ones (budo) are also popular: these are seedless and can easily be squeezed out of the skins (straight into your mouth!)

The hakuto peaches from the Okayama area are magnificent: huge, like grapefruit, and very sweet, with white flesh. Maybe the southern states of the USA or other hot, fertile regions have something similar, but I’ve never seen them here.

Nashi pears have recently begun to appear in some of our shops. They are a typical autumn fruit in Japan. In case you don’t know them, they are not pear-shaped but round, like apples - in fact the golden-brown colour makes them similar in appearance to a russet apple. They are slightly crunchy in texture and very juicy.

Another popular autumn fruit is the Japanese persimmon (kaki in Japanese). These are eaten either fresh or dried (sweet and sticky, like dates).

But the most common fruit in the hot, sultry summers is of course the water melon. Some people seem to eat water melon almost every day, which is no bad thing as it is very good for the thirst and quite healthy too: it is high in vitamin C and contains beta carotene (= vitamin A), fibre, potassium and lycopene, which is said to help prevent some types of cancer. It is also high in antioxidants and helps protect against cardiovascular disease. In addition, it is believed to be good for liver, kidney and urinary problems.

Fruit in general is very important for health, as I’m sure everyone knows by now (unless you’ve been on a desert island for 20 years). Even the US and UK governments now recognise and promote its nutritional value! However, nowhere near enough emphasis is given to just how vital proper nutrition is; and in the case of fruit in particular, what they do not emphasise is that to be effective the fruit should be fresh and eaten raw if possible, for highest amount of vitamins; it should also be ripe, i.e. naturally ripened on the tree or bush, in order to provide important digestive enzymes.

Another factor to consider is that organic fruit seems to be much healthier than non-organic, as well as tasting better. Unfortunately it is still relatively expensive. A couple of years ago I read a report of which the section below is an extract. I can email the complete list of results if you are interested. (Or sign up for my FREE newsletter! - for a more detailed discussion on this and many other health issues).

“Researchers at Rutgers University set out to disprove the claim that ‘Organic Is Better’. They purchased selections of produce at supermarkets and healthfood stores and analyzed for mineral content.

Organic foods were those grown without the use of chemical pesticides or artificial fertilizers. Non-organic foods, referred to here as ‘commercial,’ were grown with a variety of chemicals that enhance growth or destroy pests, many of which are known or suspected carcinogens (cancer-causing) and which cause greater erosion to the environment and wildlife.

The idea that organic crops are nutritionally superior has been accepted largely on faith. There has been very little hard evidence to support this supposition.

Rutgers researchers expected the organic produce to be maybe slightly higher in comparison, but the results were astounding! The amount of iron in the organic spinach was 97% more than the commercial spinach, and the manganese was 99% greater in the organic. Many essential trace elements were completely absent in the commercial produce whereas they were abundant, comparatively, in their organically grown counterparts.”