An Overlooked Antioxidant: Persimmon, Perchance?

More and more, exotic fruits are finding their way to our local supermarkets and onto our dining room tables. What do they want from us and should we give it to them? Read on for some unexpected health tips.

A trip to the supermarket on any given day will reveal creatures in the fruit and vegetable department that might have come from the depths of the black lagoon or even scarier places. Things with horns and roots and hairs seem to watch us as we pass from fruit stand to fruit stand. Sometimes I think they are begging me to pick them over a more normal looking competitor. (That of course, is my problem.) The persimmon is one of those fruits that most people (including myself) have not tried. I for one cannot even hazard a guess as to why that is true but it does seem to be. A team of researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem recently published data concerning the effects of eating persimmons on specifically cholesterol metabolism. The team’s leader, Shel Gorinstein, carried out experiments with rats and even though that makes extrapolation to humans somewhat difficult, her work clearly indicates that eating persimmons alters fat metabolism in rats. The pulp and peel of the persimmon are good fiber sources, and this fruit contains antioxidants such as carotenoids and polyphenols, which may or may not affect fat metabolism. Persimmons are also good sources of sodium, potassium, magnesium, manganese and iron. What more could anyone ask from such a colorful fruit? What do YOU think about persimmons?