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The following is a guest post from Kristin,  a Dietetics student at the University of Delaware.  She also happens to be my real life niece! Her post has convinced me to go out and buy some fresh pineapple right now!

Fresh pineapple is not only a delicious fruit to snack on in the summer time, but it is also nutritious! A ¾ cup serving of pineapple has about 56 calories, 15g carbs, 2g of fiber and 11g of sugar. And as we all know, most of the things that we LOVE to eat are bad for us! But, pineapple is very low in fat and sodium and has no cholesterol. It is rich in Vitamin C, Vitamin B1 (Thiamin), copper, dietary fiber, Vitamin B6 and Manganese.

Now, you may ask what exactly does manganese do for the body? Well, it is a trace mineral and an essential co-factor for many enzymes involved in energy production and antioxidant defenses. So when you find yourselves energy deprived or under the weather, try eating manganese and antioxidant rich foods like pineapple!

Thiamin helps to increase blood circulation and provide a greater supply of oxygen to the blood cells. Thiamin also functions to metabolize carbohydrates for digestion.

Pineapples also contain a unique enzyme called Bromelain. Bromelain has the special ability to help the body balance and neutralize fluids so that it’s neither too alkaline nor too acidic.  It also stimulates hormonal secretions in the pancreas which are important for digestion. This enzyme also helps reduce pain as it is responsible for reducing inflammation and swelling. Interestingly enough, drinking pineapple juice can help reduce soreness and redness in throats!

Remember that the longer you store fruit, the lower the nutritional value. As the fruit is exposed to oxygen and further ripens, it also loses some important vitamins and minerals.

I love to eat fresh cold pineapple in the summer, don’t you?

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This entry was posted on Monday, July 6th, 2009 by workoutmommy at 4:15 am and is filed under guest posts, nutrition. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.