When giving gifts, don't chase novelty; off-season fruits carry hidden health risks
Introduction: Modern people value health, so an off-season fruit basket is a good gift idea—both healthy and novel. However, off-season fruits actually pose significant health risks! Come with us to see what the hidden dangers of off-season fruits are and how to select them.
Off-season fruits with excessive hormones are extremely harmful
What are the dangers of off-season fruits?
Plant growth regulators are widely used in the cultivation of vegetables and fruits. A single fruit tree, from seedling to maturity, may be treated with over a dozen types of hormones. These hormones can promote fruit development, growth, and ripening, and also increase fruit yield.
The use of hormones can increase production by about 20%, improve fruit set rate, and enlarge fruit size. As long as the methods are appropriate and the dosage is moderate, using hormones will not harm human health.
However, some strawberries are hollow in the middle, irregularly shaped, and overly large, which is generally caused by excessive hormones. When strawberries are treated with ripening agents or other hormonal drugs, their growth period shortens, their color becomes fresh, but their flavor becomes dull.
Some people use sulfur dioxide (harmful to the human body) to ripen bananas to make their skins tender and yellow, but the flesh remains very hard and has no sweetness at all.
Some watermelons have uneven skin stripes; when cut open, the pulp is exceptionally vibrant, but the seeds are white, and there is an aftertaste in the mouth after eating.
Worse still, unripe green grapes are soaked in a diluted solution, and after a day or two, they turn into "fully ripe" purple grapes.
This soaking method is currently the most common trick used by unscrupulous vendors and farmers. They pick unripe green fruits, soak them in an ethephon solution, and after 2 to 3 days of storage, most of the fruit turns red.
Fruits ripened with ripening agents may change color on the surface, but their internal quality does not change. They lack the rich nutrients that fruits should have, have low sugar content, and don't taste fruity, with less juice and moisture.
Simple identification methods
Experts suggest that if possible, consumers should buy fewer off-season fruits and opt for seasonal fruits instead. Seasonal fruits ripen in a natural environment without the use of ripening agents and require fewer preservatives for storage, making them relatively safer to eat.
If you need to buy off-season fruits, first look at the fruit's shape and color.
Although artificially ripened fruit displays mature characteristics, the faking can only affect one aspect; the peel or other parts of the fruit may still feel immature.
For example, a naturally ripe watermelon, due to sufficient sunlight, has a deep, bright rind with clear stripes and a firm, old stem. A ripened watermelon has a fresh-looking rind, pale stripes, and a green stem.
Second, distinguish by smelling the fruit. Naturally ripe fruits usually have a fruity aroma on their skin; artificially ripened fruits not only lack this aroma but may even have an off-smell.
Artificially ripened fruits do not emit a pleasant fragrance; over-ripened fruits often have a fermented smell; and injected watermelons can have the smell of bleach from tap water.
Furthermore, artificially ripened fruits are noticeably heavier. For fruits of the same variety and size, artificially ripened or injected fruits are much heavier than naturally ripe ones, making them easy to identify.
Fruits suitable for winter
Pear
Traditional Chinese medicine believes that pears contain malic acid, citric acid, glucose, fructose, calcium, phosphorus, iron, and various vitamins. Pears have functions such as moistening the throat, promoting saliva secretion, moistening the lungs to relieve cough, and nourishing the intestines. They are most suitable for people with fever and internal heat during winter and spring.
They are particularly effective for relieving lung-heat cough, pediatric wind-heat, dry throat, and constipation. Modern medical research suggests that pears can also lower blood pressure and have a heat-clearing and sedative effect.
For patients with high blood pressure who experience dizziness, blurred vision, palpitations, or tinnitus, eating pears regularly can alleviate these symptoms.
Pears are rich in sugar and vitamins and have liver-protecting and digestion-aiding effects. However, because pears are cold-natured, people with a weak spleen and stomach, poor digestion, or postpartum blood deficiency should not eat them in excess.
Sugarcane
Sugarcane has the effect of nourishing and clearing heat and is rich in nutrients. As a cooling tonic, it has a certain therapeutic effect on treating low blood sugar, constipation, difficult urination, nausea and vomiting, deficient-heat cough, and high fever with thirst.
However, because sugarcane is cold-natured, people with a weak spleen and stomach or stomach and abdominal pain should not eat it.
Fruits also suitable for winter include apples, oranges, bananas, and hawthorn. Apples can promote saliva secretion to quench thirst, harmonize the spleen to stop diarrhea; oranges can regulate qi to stimulate appetite, aid digestion, and resolve phlegm; bananas can clear heat, moisten the intestines, lower blood pressure, and prevent hemorrhoids; hawthorn can dilate blood vessels, lower blood lipids, strengthen and regulate the heart muscle, and prevent coronary artery sclerosis.
When eating fruit in winter, the following points should also be noted:
People with excess stomach acid should not eat fruits rich in organic acid, such as plums, hawthorn, or lemons.
People with constipation can eat more peaches, bananas, or oranges, as these fruits can help relieve the condition.
Persimmons contain a large amount of persimmon gum, and eating too many can worsen constipation.
People with heart disease or edema should not eat fruits with high water content, such as watermelons or coconuts, to avoid increasing the burden on the heart and worsening edema.
People with diabetes should not only eat less sugar but also reduce their intake of high-sugar fruits like pears, apples, and bananas.
Patients with nephritis or hypertension should not eat too many bananas, as bananas are cold-natured and have a laxative effect, but are also high in potassium.
In addition, due to the aging of internal organs, the physiological functions of the elderly weaken, such as poor digestion, reduced intestinal motility, atrophic gastric mucosa, and excess stomach acid. They often suffer from various diseases, so they should not eat large amounts of fruit at once. Instead, they can adopt a "small meals, frequent meals" approach.