Know Your Fruits: The (Biblical) Pomegranate

Ah, if it is January, it's pomegranate season and one of the few reasons I'm happy about the winter. I love seeing the giant stacks of pomegranates at my organic market, looking like a red Aztec Pyramid.

This large, weird fruit's name is derived from the Old French word poumgarnet, which means "multi-seeded apple" --- more on that later --- and it takes some skill to eat. What makes the pomegranate so grand? Well, it's not only super high in antioxidants, which can battle cancer and heart disease, it is also a fantastic source of potassium, Vitamin C and Vitamin B. This fruit also promotes the production of red blood cells, may strengthen the bladder and the gums and may soothe ulcers, according to Rebecca Wood's The New Whole Foods Encyclopedia.

For those of you who are pomegranate virgins, you eat the bright red pulp and the seeds---they sort of look like bright and fruity caviar---or you can juice it.

Pomegranates are also an ancient fruit. Originally from China and the Middle East, many Biblical scholars now believe that this is the fruit that temped Eve to the dark side. One bite of this tasty and healthy fruit, and you too will be hooked!

My friend Kim, medical student extraordinaire and damn good cook, just sent me this. Had to share.

"Overall, the direct costs of inactivity and obesity account for some 9.4% of the national health care expenditures in the United States (over $100 billion dollars today)," according to the Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, the official journal of the American College of Sports Medicine.

We spend $46 billion on diet products but only $19 billion dollars on gym memberships.

People. Buy a jump rope!!! Go for a walk!

New Year, New Rules

So I started the New Year this morning with a breakfast at Eat N Park---cheese and veggie omelet with this deep fried, square McDonalesque Hash Brown(s) on the side, white toast with butter and jam, and coffee with cream. (To those of you not familiar with Eat N Park, it's Denny's + Howard Johnson's – Country Kitchen.)

Do I hate myself for this calorie-laden meal? No, not really. I can count on my right hand how many times I've eaten a breakfast like that in the past five years. And now that I've eaten that, I can pretty much guarantee that I won't eat a breakfast, or a dinner or a lunch, like that again for a few more years.

I call this the Fudge Rule. I don't know about you, but chocolate fudge just sounds amazing: you look at it, heck ogle it, at the chocolate shops---those brown, buttery squares---and finally you are like "I have to have fudge or I am going to go all Lindsey Lohan on some one's arse." So you buy a piece, or 12, devour it, and about 20 minutes later you realize that you really don't need to eat fudge for another year. You are kind of fudged out. You are sick of fudge. It was either that fulfilling or that rich or that decadent or maybe, if you are lucky, that sickeningly sweet, that you are satiated.

So that's what I'm talking about for this new year. Enjoy the things you want to enjoy without making them daily needs in your daily diet. Eat in moderation. And always eat your veggies.