ABC’s of A & C

Whoa, Nellie! I made a typo in a past post in the FruitLife newsletter when I wrote that persimmons give you up to 70 percent of the Vitamin C you need each day. What I meant to type was that persimmons give you up to 70 percent of Vitamin A (A and C are really close on the keyboard). Let me now apologize to those who thought the persimmons they have been enjoying all week had tons of Vitamin C and now are saying: “Man are you serious? I was totally psyched on Vitamin C only to now realize that it was Vitamin A all along? Dude, what a rip off!”

Well, let me assure you that there is no harshing of your vitamin buzz going on here. Both Vitamins A and C are represented in many of the fruits you see in the crate at this time of year. Did you know that most animals produce Vitamin C on their own? The only ones that don’t are primates, humans, and guinea pigs (strange but true). Thus food is our pathway to Vitamin C. As author Harold Magee says in his book On Food and Cooking, fruits and veggies provide nearly all of our Vitamin C and half of our Vitamin A (the rest we make ourselves). Both vitamins are antioxidants but do different and essential things for our bodies. Vitamin A, which our bodies make from a precursor molecule in plants called beta-carotene, helps regulate the growth of several different kinds of cells and helps our eyes detect light. “Vitamin C refreshes the chemical state of metal components in many enzymes and helps with the synthesis of connective tissue collagen,” writes McGee. The disease scurvy, which causes pale, spotted skin, spongy gums, and bleeding from the mucous membranes, results when you don’t have enough Vitamin C to keep collagen levels in your body stable. Oranges and other citrus have an abundance of Vitamin C. A Persimmon does have some Vitamin C, but is an excellent path to Vitamin A. Check out our “In the mix” pages to see what’s happening in your mix this week.

Happy Thanksgiving! All of us here at FruitGuys are very thankful for your business and your excitement about eating healthy! Enjoy and be fruitful! chiefbanana@fruitguys.com