Food Facts

Originating from India, these sumptuous sticky and lush fruits are one of the most popular of the tropical fruits after the banana and coconut and we are lucky enough to have them raining down on us right here in Key West at the moment.  Not only that but they are packed with goodness. In India they are considered a symbol of life.

With just 135 calories per mango you are getting loads of vitamins and minerals, meaning a lot of food for its size. One mango provides a quarter of the recommended daily amount of vitamin C. It contains high amounts of Iron. This is especially good because about 20% of women, 50% of pregnant women, and 3% of men do not have enough iron in their body. It also has good amounts of beta carotene, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, Vitamins K, A and E. In fact the abundant Vitamin E in mangoes helps to regulate sex hormones and boosts sex drive! They also contain powerful antioxidants that neutralize free radicals. Free radicals damage our cells and can lead to premature aging, cancer and other degenerating diseases. Need any more reasons to eat your mangoes? Here’s one more. Mangoes are also said to help the skin and specifically acne by unclogging pores. Take some thin slices and lay then on your face or just rub the ripe mango pulp into your skin and leave it for about 10 minutes before washing it off with warm water; an all natural face pack!

If you don’t rub all the mangoes into your skin, why not make some refreshing mango juice or a delicious smoothie?

For the juice, simply blend some ripe mangoes with a little water, add a little sweetener such as agave nectar or honey and pour over ice. Would probably be good as a mixer for a summer evening cocktail too!

For a delicious tropical smoothie, take 1 banana, 1 mango, a handful of pineapple and blend with water. At the restaurant we add some spinach, cilantro and lime to ours to make a tropical ‘green’ smoothie. Might sound strange but try it, it’s delicious and nutritious!

Some other mango ideas: Tropical Mango salsa (goes great with fish), mango pudding, mango bread or mango muffins.

Enjoy your mangoes!

We love Micheal Pollan! His philosophy around food, outlined in his books ‘The Omnivores Dilema’ and ‘In Defense of Food’, are directly in line with ours and the reasons we opened Help Yourself. In fact I can’t think of any better words to sum it up than his phrase on the front of ‘In Defense of Food’; Eat Food. Not Much. Mostly Plants.

This morning I had some time to myself and I went down to Voltaire Books and picked up his latest book ‘Food Rules’. This is a simple pocket guide he calls ‘An Eaters Manual’ that contains 64 rules on how to eat.

Forget Weight Watchers, Atkins, South Beach, Medi Fast or any of the other fad diets out there, if everyone followed these simple guidelines we would have a much healthier and thinner nation. Guaranteed.

Take Rule number 37 for instance:

“The whiter the bread the sooner you’ll be dead”

How true this is! In fact here’s a little whole grain trivia we have posted at the restaurant that helps you understand why this rule is so true: