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| Photo Credit: ©Dan Hemmelgarn |
| Cantaloupe is 90 percent water – and 100 percent delicious! |
My daughter and I were enjoying a lazy afternoon, rocking on our wraparound porch, when I asked her to tell me what she liked most about summer. She leaned back, took a long sigh, and began her list: swimming, watching all the butterflies and hummingbirds in our flower garden, and fruit.
“Fruit!” we exclaimed in unison. Instantly our thoughts turned to cantaloupe and watermelon – juicy, oh-so-sweet, fragrant and fresh. The fact that we only get to savor homegrown melons for the short summer season makes them all the more desirable. In addition to their tempting taste, local, summer fruits are “nutrient cocktails,” brimming with vitamins, minerals, fiber and a combination of health-protecting compounds. For example, according to a report from Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, eating several servings of fruit each day can help protect our eyesight. Researchers studied more than 77,000 middle-aged and older women, and over 40,000 men. Those who ate three or more servings of fruit per day had one-third less risk of developing macular degeneration, compared with those who ate less than one and a half fruit servings per day. And servings are smaller than you may think. For example, one serving equals just one cup of melon chunks. (And who can eat just one cup?) Color is key in spotting disease-fighting nutrients. Orange cantaloupe contains beta-carotene, which the body converts to vitamin A. Beta-carotene stimulates enzymes that repair damaged cells, and vitamin A is critical for healthy skin, eyesight and a strong immune system.
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