When I was youngster I worked for about three years at Atkinson Field (now Timehri) which was originally an American base. By the time I got there it had been handed over to our government and was our international airport, but there were still a few Americans about. I remember eating a guava one day, and an American serviceman passing by said to me, “You know that’s a very nutritional fruit you’re eating?”
I was taken aback. Guava was one of those fruits small boys would hunt (I remember raiding my aunts’ trees at Hague) but I was surprised to hear this claim. Probably sensing my skepticism, the American elaborated that he was in the medical field and that, in search of nutrition information, the base’s doctors had done an analysis of all the fruits and vegetables in Guyana and, brace yourself, it showed that guava, in fact, had the highest nutritional value per ounce than anything else grown here. Frankly I dismissed the whole thing as American b.s. Guava? Growing wild all over the place? Come on. Anansi story.
And then, just last week, a long time Guyanese acquaintance in Florida sent me an article (I believe from the Caribbean Food and Nutrition Institute [CFNI], UWI, Mona) extolling the superior nutrition benefits of Caribbean foods. Among other things the article confirms that, compared to an American apple, one guava has four (4) times the amount of fiber, slightly more potassium and nineteen (19) times the amount of vitamin C. In comparison to a whole bunch of imported grapes, one (1) guava has twenty five (25) times more vitamin C, four (4) times more fiber, and about the same amount of potassium. In another comparison, it would take fifteen (15) American apples to supply the vitamin C content of only one (1) West Indian cherry. In one shot, I have new respect for Mister Guava and I’m fertilizing my cherry tree.
That Florida email reminded me that a few weeks back a doctor friend of mine in Cayman (he’s always mailing me these pro-Caribbean writings) had sent me an article from a publication called the Science Daily announcing that a University of Florida researcher Nam Dang, M.D., Ph.D., working with colleagues in Japan, had documented that papaw had dramatic anticancer effect against a broad range of lab-grown tumors, including cancers of the cervix, breast, liver, lung and pancreas. The researchers used an extract made from dried papaya leaves, and the anticancer effects were stronger when cells received larger doses of the tea. Additionally, the papaya extract did not have any toxic effects on normal cells, avoiding a common and devastating consequence of many cancer therapy treatments.
Also, about a month ago, there was a CFNI report of a study that showed the anti-toxin qualities of mauby. Yes, mauby; that stuff we guzzle in the cake-shop. What a revelation. Here I had been, as a youth, enjoying mauby regularly in Stabroek Market in my ferry-to-Vreed-en-Hoop days, not knowing I was also detoxifying as well as cooling off.
These news items led me to recall old Mrs. Grantham who lived across the road from us in Vreed-en-Hoop 50 years ago. She sometimes struck me as a bit daft with her proclamations of the wondrous healing properties of aloes. I would look at this green slimy stuff and scoff, but years later, lo and behold the white folks overseas were making millions marketing aloe vera; drug store counters were awash in the stuff. My apologies, Mrs. Grantham, wherever you are.
In one of my songs, “Boyhood Days”, I had made fun of the Caribbean prescription that “when you fall down they give you sugar water to drink”. It turns out my jibe was misplaced. Medical science now tells us that such an approach is sound medicine; the drink repairs the drop in blood sugar caused by the fall. Besides, it’s instantaneous (you always have sugar in the house) and it’s dirt cheap – sorry, sugar cheap.
And speaking of good medicine, my Cayman doctor friend also recommends the soursop plant to treat high blood pressure. “Many of my patients swear by it,” he says. “They boil the leaves and drink the water.”
I’m beginning to ramble here, so before I run out of room, I have to relay some more nutrition info from the CFNI article.
It points out that while cranberry juice is marketed as “good for you” – it benefits your bladder – you can get similar benefits from coconut water at less than half the calories and with appreciably more potassium. Also a glass of cranberry juice has 150 – 200 calories; the same glass of coconut water, only 50 calories, and zero fat. In other words, again quoting “Boyhood Days” go ahead and “drink coconut water ‘til yuh belly bus’.
The article also debunks the myth that coconut causes high cholesterol by pointing out that the coconut is of plant origin and cholesterol is found only in foods of animal origin. This means that butter will have cholesterol, but coconut milk, like the vegetable margarines, is free of cholesterol. Moreover, the traditional way of cooking with coconut milk for flavor is better than using margarine which is often substituted in porridge, rice and peas, and soups. Here’s why: a tablespoon of coconut milk has only 38 calories and 4g fat; the same amount of margarine has (brace yourself again) 111 calories and 11.5 g fat. That one really shocked me.
We constantly hear of the health value of American vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower and brussel sprouts. In fact, our callaloo has more than four times the calcium, two or more times the iron, and more than twice the vitamin A of those American vegetables. I have to tell my Kitty vendor to put up a sign over her callaloo saying, “Buy callaloo and get your calcium, iron and vitamin A free.”
Two more; quickly. The fat in coconut is mono-unsatured which is good fat – the same type that we pay so much for in olive oil. So go coconut. Also we constantly hear about the health value of foods with fiber. Well, our sweet potato has more fiber than the Irish version, and topping the list with fiber content is breadfruit with almost 3 grams in just 2 slices. (Too bad about the mutiny, Captain Bligh, but thanks for the breadfruit plants.)
In Guyana, we have a leg up on the nutrients because fruits and vegetables here are affordable, usually, and you know they’re not loaded with chemicals – most farmers can’t afford them – so I’m taking advantage of that. Also, you can tell from my song that I’m a water coconut man, and I’m also big on papaw, soursop and callaloo, but as of now I’m doubling up.
Finally, in appreciation for this array of good nutritional news I’m sending you, if you hear of any other local wonder foods the least you could do is return the favour and let me know. One good turn deserves another – isn’t that how it go?
