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Eat Guavas for that Extra Vitamin C

Guavas are a fairly popular fruit in Kenya, often enjoyed by kids rarely by adults. For those not familiar with the word guava, maybe the word mapera should sound more familiar.

Guavas are not exactly the kind of fruit that you find in most Kenyan markets or with your fruit vendor, which is rather unfortunate considering their nutrition profile. Guavas are indeed very nutritious and are one of the richest sources of Vitamin C, not even an orange comes close to what a guava provides.

A single guava provides about four times the amount of Vitamin C in an orange. 100g of Guava provides about 228mg of Vitamin C which is almost three times of what you require daily (Daily Recommended Intake (DRI): 275%).1

Most of the Vitamin C is however concentrated in the skin of the guava and not the pinkish pulp in the inside, so if you don’t eat the skin you’ll be clearly missing out on a good portion of it’s Vitamin C.

The Benefits of Vitamin C

guavas
A Basket of Guavas

The biggest benefit Vitamin C is often associated with is it’s supposed healing and preventive effect against colds but that has been found to be not exactly the case. So what is vitamin C good for?

Vitamin C is the most abundant water-soluble antioxidant in the body. And what do antioxidants do? Well, they’re are believed to play roles in disease prevention of diseases associated with free radicals like cancer, cardiovascular diseases and neurodegenerative diseases.

Vitamin C is also very essential for the body as its needed for healing wounds, repairing and maintaining bones and teeth and in the prevention of scurvy. Vitamin C is also very important to or diet as it enhances absorption of iron from the foods we eat like meats and pulses.

Good Source of Fibre

Guavas are not just good for vitamin C. They are also rich sources of dietary fibre which helps to keep your digestive system healthy and is said to lower the risk of chronic diseases including cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, obesity and certain gastrointestinal diseases.

Guavas also provide moderate amounts of folate, an important nutrient especially during pregnancy which helps prevent cases of neural tube defects (e.g. spinal bifida) and also ensures optimal development of tissues and cells.

How to eat your Guavas?

guava bitten
Biten Guava

Eating a guava is really simple. Just clean it properly and eat everything including the skin. You can also peel out the skin but know doing this will mean missing out on some Vitamin C. You can also include it in your fruit salad or make guava juice.

REFERENCES

1.USDA – Common Guava
2.Wikipedia – Guava

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