potassium

Squash (the winter species) is native to Central America and evolved around the same time as flowering plants, approximately 350 million years ago. However, it was not until 13,000 B.C.E. that man began using squash to make cups, containers, and floats for fishing nets. It was one of the earliest cultivated plants, first farmed in 10,000 B.C.E., but because of its bitter taste was not used as a food source until several thousands of years later when squash was bred to have a sweeter taste.

You might not believe it, but the foods you eat affect more than just your body weight: They affect your appearance. Certain foods are great for your skin, while others are great for your hair. Have you been suffering from dry, brittle hair? What about oily, frizzy hair? Whatever the case, buying another toxin filled shampoo might not be your best solution. You might just need to change your diet. I say this because certain foods are loaded with nutrients that hair needs to stay happy and healthy.

The pumpkin is a member of the family Cucurbitaceae, also known as the cucumber family in the genus Cucurbita L. – gourd P, which contains nine species. The familiar orange pumpkin popular in the United States is of the species Cucurbita mixta Pang.

One of my favorite summer fruits is the beloved and magical fig. My grandmother had a huge fig tree in her backyard and every summer we would make fig and ginger jam. I cannot even begin to describe how delicious this jam was. And how wonderful the smell of the cooking jam was. I used to eat it on toast and straight out of the jar by the spoonfuls. 

As a young girl, I just enjoyed the delicious flavor of figs and had no idea how healthy figs are for you.

It sounds exotically hilarious and frankly, it’s impossible to say without a bit of a snigger. But laugh as you may, couscous is a powerhouse of nutrients that can definitely add to your health quotient... 

Every season is amazing, but summer is my favorite by far. That's probably because there's so much that grows in the summer, especially fruit! Out of all the seasons, summer hosts the most fruit and I cannot get enough of their juicy goodness. Just pop by any farmers market and you will see exactly what I mean.

Mushrooms have been eaten as food and used as a healing aid since pre-history starting in the Neolithic period. They were first found in in the prehistoric lake dwellings in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland. Truffles were found in Greece and Rome where they cultivated the small Agrocybe aegerita on pieces of poplar trunks. In China and Japan they’ve grown shitake mushrooms on rotting logs. In 1678, a French botanist demonstrated the cultivation of mushrooms by transplanting their mycelia.

The Jerusalem artichoke is neither an artichoke nor has it any connection to Jerusalem. It is the tuber at the root of a flowering plant of the aster family and is native to North America. The flower is similar to the sunflower and the tuber, much like that of ginger, with a texture of a potato. In 1585, Sir Walter Raleigh came upon the plant cultivated by the area peoples of Virginia.

Popeye may have believed that the main health benefit of spinach was its iron content, but he would not have been able to flex his muscles as well if spinach was not so high in magnesium. That’s right – Popeye knows best. Eat your greens!

The artichoke has origins in the Mediterranean basin. It is a member of the thistle family and evolved from the cardoon plant. It is the bud part of the plant before it flowers, which is edible. It is composed of triangular scales around the central choke known as the heart and only the lower half or fleshy part of each scale can be eaten, but the heart is the most delectable part of the artichoke. The immature bud can be eaten in its entirety.