Eat an Apricot for Good Health

Mothers are usually right.

My mother always told me to eat my fresh fruits and vegetables. Actually, not only did she tell me these things, but she forced the idea into my head through her yearly routines.

Every summer, I had my own space in the garden where I usually grew - my favorite thing to grow - my own patch of carrots. I would anxiously check them every day to see if I could see any carrots appearing below the dirt so I could pick one to gobble down tasting nature in action.

Additionally, one of our summer activities was to attend the local U-Pick Farms where we would stuff our faces while filling our baskets with juicy strawberries.

I always wondered why there wasn't a scale to weigh us when we were done since it seemed we ate as many as we had put into the basket. We would take them home where Mom would make a batch of her strawberry jam that everyone would fight over to dress their toast with.

Another favorite activity was to visit the local Farmer's Market to buy fresh pickling cucumbers, dill and garlic that Mom made pickles out of every year.

While I didn't learn the art of making strawberry jam or Mom's homemade pickles, I did learn that eating fresh is healthy.

At that time, while I would have rather lived on candy bars and chips, her influence finally paid off in my adult years when I became an avid reader of nutritional information - and an avid eater of the foods I was reading about.

When reading about apricots, I was amazed to learn that these little orange fruits pack an amazing amount of goodness inside.

Apricots are a nutritious source of vitamins, including Vitamin C, iron, potassium, fiber and especially, Vitamin A. The fruit may be eaten fresh or dried, and is also available in the canned fruit aisle at your local supermarket.

The health benefits of apricots have been shown through studies of the Hunza tribe whose main food staple is the apricot, which they consume throughout the year. The Hunzas maintain a low incidence of disease to which their consumption of apricots has been partially attributed.