Wednesday, May 13, 2009

The Wonder of Edible Plants

I opened a forwarded email message yesterday and knew immediately that I'd feature it as a post because it's in keeping with this week's theme.

The email contained a list of vegetables and the corresponding body part that the plant supports and heals.

Without googling for accuracy, since the list read as believable, I'm posting it pretty much as it arrived:

  1. The radiating lines of a sliced carrot look like the pupil and iris of a human eye. It's well known that carrots are eye food and this is because carrots greatly enhance blood flow to the eye.
  2. A tomato has four chambers and is red, like the heart. Tomatoes are loaded with lycopine, a heart and blood food.
  3. Grapes in a cluster hang in the shape of the heart. Each grape looks like a blood cell. Research suggests that grapes vitalize the blood and thus the heart.
  4. A walnut looks like a little brain: the left and right hemispheres, upper cerebrum and lower cerebellum, even the wrinkles or folds on the nuts appear like the neo-cortex. And walnuts help brain function by contributing to the development of more than three dozen neurotransmitters.
  5. Kidney beans, which actually look like human kidneys, help maintain kidney function.
  6. Avocado pears are womb-like in shape. Research suggests that an avocado a week can help balance a woman's hormones. And oddly, or not, it takes nine months for an avocado to grow from blossom to ripened fruit.
  7. Figs are full of seeds and hang from the fig tree in pairs. Figs aid in the mobility of male sperm and contribute to increasing a man's sperm count.
  8. Sweet potatoes are shaped like the pancreas and in fact, aid in balancing the glycemic index of diabetics.

Given the message within the title of this post, "the wonder of edible plants," I think it appropriate to revisit my post on buying organic versus conventional vegetables from a couple of months ago.

Print it out, keep it on your fridge and refer to often, particularly when your at the grocery store in the fresh produce section.




2 comments:

ChuckR said...

Mr. Pollan is coming to Kansas City today to promote his book and I think he is scheduled to tour the Heartland Harvest Garden at Powell Gardens, KC's botanical garden. The 12-acre Heartland Harvest Garden opens offically June 14 and is billed as the largesy edible landscape. I think it will be quite a symbol for people in the area interested in locally grown food.

Louise Ross said...

That sounds great, Chuck, I hope Mr. Pollan's visit brings both local and regional awareness to the Heartland Harvest Garden!