Many Americans have only eaten kiwi or seen it offered as part of a fruit salad. Kiwifruit has a light brown furry skin on the outside and is green with little black edible seeds on the inside. Despite its relative obscurity, kiwifruit is very healthful. Dr. Jonny Bowden lists kiwifruit among the best fruits you can eat in his book "The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth."
Edible Skin
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, you are free to enjoy the skin on a kiwifruit. In fact, the majority of the fiber content is in the skin. According to Dr. Bowden, however, you should absolutely make sure to clean the skin thoroughly with a strong fruit and vegetable wash or buy organic kiwi. His recommendation is largely due to the 2003 statement of the "Environmental Working Group," a non-profit consumer protection and safety organization, that kiwi is one of the most pesticide contaminated foods.
Nutritional Information
Although most people think of oranges when they think of fruits that have vitamin C, a similar amount of kiwifruit has nearly twice the vitamin C content as an orange. Dr. Bowden notes that eating a diet that has fruits rich in vitamin C may help prevent respiratory symptoms from asthma. He also states that kiwifruit has less sodium and more potassium than bananas and oranges. Two medium kiwifruits contain just over 5 g of fiber, 120 IU of vitamin A and over 20 mg of magnesium.
Blood Thinning Properities
Dr. Bowden reports that kiwifruit can act as a natural blood thinner, without the troubling side effects that aspirin may have, such as excessive bruising. Dr. Trent Nicholls, author of "Optimal Digestive Health," explains that taking aspirin on a daily basis can cause small breaks in your intestinal walls. Kiwi is not likely to cause stomach pain, bleeding or increased bruising or have potentially dangerous interactions with other medications. If you are currently engaged in aspirin therapy to prevent congestive heart failure, consult your health care provider before changing your regimen.
Picking Ripe Kiwifruit
If you have never eaten kiwi or have only had it as part of a commercial fruit salad you may not know how to pick out a good kiwifruit. Lydia Medeiros, nutrition specialist at Ohio State University, provides guidelines on how to select the best kiwi at the grocery store. Unlike some fruits, color is not the indicator of a ripe kiwifruit. You will have to touch and lightly squeeze the fruit to check if it ripe. You want to select a kiwi that is soft enough that you can press the skin down but not so soft that it seems mushy.
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