A new study published in the Nutrition Research journal found that gold kiwifruit helps boost your immune system and strengthen your body’s response to infection. The study tested immune responses in mice that were given gold kiwifruit puree, the juice of the fruit, or a sugar solution. After 20 days, the mice who ate the kiwi puree had significantly higher levels of immunoglobulins while the mice that drank juice or the sugar solution had no significant difference in immunity.
Although the researchers were not able to identify a specific ingredient(s) in kiwi that help improve the immune response, they suspect that the high fiber and carotenoid content of the fruit may be responsible.
Previous research has found that the carotenoids lutein and beta-carotene help the body produce antibodies.
With flu season coming up, kiwifruit would be a smart thing to add to your diet. If you don’t like eating it plan, put the whole fruit in a blender and mix with other fruits for a smoothie.
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
The suggestion for putting the entire kiwi in the blender would speak to the question: were the kiwis given to the mice peeled?
I eat them without the peels and wonder about issues of eating the peel as well…how to make them more tasty, how to properly clean any pesticides, etc. from them,should the peel be eaten as far as nutrition….
Hi Roger,
Thanks for leaving a comment! The mice in the study were given a kiwi puree, so I doubt that the skin was included.
However, the skin of kiwis is packed with nutritional benefits and you can definitely eat the skin. Wash and scrub the outside first to get some of the hairs off. If you can, buy organic.
Eat slices of kiwi whole, or drop them in a blender (skin on) and you won’t even notice once the smoothie is blended. Here’s a previous post I wrote about eating the skin of some fruits (I talk about kiwi):
http://www.laurelonhealthfood.com/2008/06/04/go-ahead-eat-these-fruit-peels/