Healthiest Fruits Easily Available in the Philippines

If you’re serious about longevity, stop thinking about the Fountain of Youth. True, the gods have sent us plenty of help– unbeknownst to you perhaps. They’re called fruits and they’re gifts from above.

Chances are, you’ll soon realize how important health is. When you bump into a flu or worse be haunted by the specter of Ebola/MERS (or whatever else is the current dreaded disease). Sure, you can lose your voice singing to that iconic Alphaville tune: “Forever young, I wanna be, forever young”. Or paint your face with all the make-up you can get your hands on, but when it comes down to it, health is something that starts from the inside. Deep within. It is for this reason that fruits are so effective in the health department. The non-poisonous kind, of course. Vitamins, antioxidants, minerals – God’s miracle-workers all found in fruits. And thank your lucky stars you’re a True Blue Pinoy. If there’s one thing our islands’ will never ran out of aside from the endless supply of “super-warm Pinoy smiles”, it’s an amazing abundance of tropical fruits.

Fine ladies and brave gentlemen, presenting heaven’s gift from above, fruits of the gods: 10 of the Healthiest Fruits you can easily find in the Philippines.

Gift #10: Mango

Nobody will argue mango’s a blessing from above. The taste alone – its delectable fleshy cheeks – is going to keep you coming for more. And Philippine mango is so delicious it has made its mark worldwide as one of the most sought-after exports from the archipelago. Added to its taste, the fruit is a good supply of antioxidants and vitamins. Truly superb!

Of course, eating more of the green ones can make your teeth sore.

You get: Vit. A, C, D

Gift #9: Calamansi

It’s certainly small. But don’t be fooled by its size, this one’s herculean in assets. For all its uses, it’s easy to think of Calamansi as a super-fruit. It’s high Vitamin C content makes the fruit best for alleviating inflammatory conditions: asthma, osteoporosis, rheumatoid arthritis.Added to this, Vitamin C protects the heart, and boosts the immune system.

And most importantly, Calaman-C does not break the bank.

You get: Vit. C

Gift #8: Avocado

Best source for Vitamin E. And the fruit contains more carotene than any other fruit, making it good protection for cataract and various eye diseases. And like olive oil, the yellow-green fruit destroys harmful cancerous and pre-cancerous cells. And don’t forget, it helps lower cholesterol.

You get: Vit. E, carotene

Gift #7: Jackfruit

Langka or Nangka, in the running for the Goliath of Fruits weighing 30-35 kilos, is a good source of Vitamin A and C, B1, B2, B6 and potassium. You’ll notice how your energy perks up almost immediately when you eat the fruit. Also, the fruit is good protection for a lot of cancers (e.g., prostrate, heart, colon, pancreatic).

You get: Vit. A, C, B1, B2, B6, Magnesium, Potassium, Iron

Gift #6: Lanzones

Not only will you love eating the juicy, translucent meat, lanzones are some of the best source of powerful antioxidants. With its distinctive tasty flavor, it’s easy to gobble up a sack of this fruit. Granting you can buy one.

You get: Vit. C, E

Gift #5: Papaya

Everywhere in the Philippines you’ll find papaya. They just seem to grow just about anywhere. For starters, papaya is a good aid in digestive problems. And the fruit’s so useful beauty-wise, it has become a key ingredient in soaps, shampoos and lotions. Think: Likas (brand).

You get: Vit. A, B, C, E, fiber, minerals

Gift #4: Guava

Packed with Vitamin C and a slew of vitamins and minerals, it’s easy to see why guava has been dubbed a “superfruit”. Guava carries up to 160mg of vitamin C, a lot higher than the 68mg from orange. Plus, the hardy fruit contains a powerful antioxidant to fight prostate cancer so common in males. Also it can act as an anti-histamine, protecting the skin against hives and eczema. You can put the fruit to good use to if you’re watching your weight.

Topping all that, guava’s known to lower cholesterol levels as well as purify the blood. Whew! What a fruit!

You get: Vit. C, A, B3, potassium, magnesium

Gift #3: Pineapple

For its unbeatable juicy sweetness and health benefits, pineapple earns the Top 3. Not only loaded with nutrients and minerals, the fruit’s a dietary fiber best suited for those who want to get back their curves and build muscles.

Introduced to the Philippines by the Spaniards, the many-eyed fruit has created thousands of jobs for Filipinos via large plantations cultured by multinationals (e.g., Del Monte, Dole). Today, the our beautiful archipelago is second only to Brazil in worldwide production.

You get: Vit. C, B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, Ca, Iron, Magnesium, Manganese, Zinc, Potassium (and more)

Gift #2: Mangosteen

Dubbed as “The Queen of Fruit”, mangosteen is so full of vitamins and minerals, awesome may fail to aptly describe it. Because of this, the fruit’s been employed to prevent many major diseases (e.g., heart disease, Alzheimer disease, diabetes, cancer, diarrhea, eczema).

Even its peelings are not spared for these are boiled and drank to lower cholesterol, stabilize blood pressure and cleanse the body of toxins. So good that the fruit has become the main ingredients in many advertise supplements in the market today.

You get: Vit. A, C, D, E, Calcium, Magnesium, Iron, Potassium

Gift #1: Banana

With heart disease as the #1 killer disease in the Philippines (1 out of 5), banana should be a prescribed fruit. Major study reveals how diets loaded with potassium-rich bananas can drastically cut incidence of stroke by one-third.

And it tastes so good. No wonder the great conqueror Alexander the Great described the fruit as “the heavenly fruit that tasted like nectar sweetened in honey.” Certainly, bananas are not just for the monkeys.

You get: 100-125 kcal, 4-5 gm fiber, Vit. A, Vit. C, 400mg Potassium, 17mg Ca, 36 mg Phosphorous, Iron, B-vitamins, B1, B6, B1 is known brain tonic, B6 good for premenstrual tension (irritability, headaches)

There you have it, folks. Our latest A-lister to join the bunch. Hope that went down well. If it fell short and left a bad taste in your mouth, please let me know. Share your thoughts in the comments section below. Of better yet, join us in our little crusade. Share this info-tainment to your circle of BFF’s.

As the famous lines goes: “Good health we may not be able to buy; it can, however, become and extremely valuable savings account”. And yes, Harry Potter was right, “An ounce of prevention is definitely better than a pound of cure.” Or was it Frodo Baggins who said that. (They’re all British.) As for me there’s one kind of fruit that I just can’t resist. I just got to eat them when I see them. Just can’t get enough. You should try it, too. It’s called fruit salad. Just kidding!