Benefits of Michigan Summer Fruit
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About the Show
On this episode, Chuck Gaidica is joined by Shanthi Appelö, registered dietitian for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. Together, they explore the benefits of summer fruits across the state of Michigan.
In this episode of A Healthier Michigan Podcast, we explore:
- Fruit that is in season and the benefits of them
- Tips for u-pick farms
- Strategic ways to get your daily serving of fruit
- Ways to make your fresh fruit last longer
Transcript
Chuck Gaidica:
Did you know how a serving of strawberries provides more vitamin C than an orange? Yeah, it's true. This is A Healthier Michigan podcast, episode 160. Coming up, we discuss Michigan fruits that you should add to your rotation this summer.
Did you know how a serving of strawberries provides more vitamin C than an orange? Yeah, it's true. This is A Healthier Michigan podcast, episode 160. Coming up, we discuss Michigan fruits that you should add to your rotation this summer.
Welcome to A Healthier Michigan podcast, a podcast dedicated to navigating how we can improve our health and well-being through small, healthy habits that we can start implementing right now. I'm your host, Chuck Gaidica, and every other week we'll sit down with a certified expert to discuss topics that cover nutrition, fitness, a lot more. On this episode, we're diving into benefits of Michigan fruit. There is so much to think about as we head through summer, and tips on picking which fresh produce we should be going after this summer. With me today is registered dietitian for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, Shanthi Appelö.
Good to have you back, Shanthi.
Shanthi Appelö:
Yeah, thanks for having me.
Chuck Gaidica:
My brother is up north and he's gotten already a big harvest of blueberries. He's got all kinds of stuff happening. And I know you want to dive into all that we should expect to look for and maybe a timetable. But we know that Michigan is home to quite a few fruits that are available to pick right through the summer months, from cherries, raspberries, all kinds of berries, that you will likely find at local grocery stores to Michigan U-Pick farms. So what should we be looking for when we're picking Michigan fruit, and how can we ensure that we're getting the most out of that fresh produce this summer?
Shanthi Appelö:
Yeah, I like that you said the local produce at the grocery stores, because I recently started noticing some highlights at my local grocery store, where they say, "This is Michigan made." So it's nice to look at the location a little bit, because we generally are going to see local produce at the farmer's market, but sometimes at the grocery store we don't know. So it's good to take a second look. The reason for that is multifold, right? So of course it's supporting our local farmers if we're buying stuff from here. But then also, if you think about fruit, they're pretty high in water. So if we're transporting them from another place, the weight of that is compared to the volume, with it being so much water it is detrimental, and the environmental impacts are definitely there. So the more we can shop local, the better.
But yeah, in May we kick off fruit season here with rhubarb. It's not the sweetest of fruits, so making it in the kitchen, you have to add a lot of sugar for it to taste good, so it's not ideal. But then we do get the sweeter fruits ripening towards mid to late summer, or in June, our strawberries start growing. Actually, Michigan generates $6.6 million from our strawberry production here, about 43 tons of fresh strawberries. And that's not the strawberries that are processed, so just the fresh strawberries alone. Then in June, we also start seeing sweet cherries, and then the tart cherries follow up in July. So that month brings along a lot of stuff. We get our cantaloupe, Honeydew, so our melons, and then our peaches and raspberries and blueberries. So we have lots to take advantage of. And a lot of them have so many health benefits, especially the berries. I feel like that's something we can really pay attention to, especially when it comes to the fiber content.
Chuck Gaidica:
Well, I've never had rhubarb by itself, but when you put rhubarb and strawberry, and to your point, I know it's got sugar, in a pie, I had never had that until a couple of years ago. Oh, my. Unbelievably good.
Shanthi Appelö:
You're missing out in life.
Chuck Gaidica:
Yeah, it's great.
Shanthi Appelö:
Yeah. When I was little, we grew rhubarb in my garden, and I remember going to pick it and my sister and I would use it as little umbrellas. The leaves are so big, so that was kind of cute.
Chuck Gaidica:
Now, how did you eat it? Did your family combine it with other things? Because I've never heard of serving it as a side vegetable or fruit or something.
Shanthi Appelö:
Right. It's not like one of those things you chop up like celery and dip in yogurt. So definitely something you want to put in a pie. It's very sour, lots of sugar added, but I think it's still something to take advantage of. But in the fiber category of things, fiber is so important because it helps prevent heart disease, helps us stay regular. There's so much more coming out about gut health and how fiber can support gut health. A lot of fibers are going to be prebiotics that help support the healthy bacteria in our gut. So highlighting a few fruits that contribute to that, raspberries are going to be the richest, so eight grams in just one cup.
Chuck Gaidica:
Wow.
Shanthi Appelö:
That's a lot. When we compare that to how much we should get a day, women should get about 25 grams. Men should get all the way up to 38 grams. So it really contributes to that final number. Also, it's got all kinds of other health benefits. But then pears follow up kind of close second. We get a lot of those in Michigan in the fall season, five and a half grams. And then strawberries, a cup provides three grams. So definitely significant there, especially when we compare to other food categories like bread.
Chuck Gaidica:
Yeah. The other part about this is that even though you're laying out this seasonal calendar, we shouldn't forget that we can grab that stuff that says Michigan grown and freeze it. For me this morning, in oatmeal, it's coming out boiling, but I'm using frozen blueberries and strawberries. And some of those blueberries are still from my stash from my brother, who comes down with multi-gallon bags from northern Michigan, so I have a supplier. But it's just great, because I grab a handful and by the time they cool off the oatmeal, it's like ready to go.
Shanthi Appelö:
Yeah. One of the things I like to do with frozen fruit too, especially strawberries and peaches, is to shave them. So it's kind of like shaved ice, but with strawberries or peaches. And they have a lot of natural sweetness, but you can drizzle just a tiny bit of honey and then serve it with something creamy like Greek yogurt, and it is a fantastic dessert and so summery.
Chuck Gaidica:
So you touched on the idea of fiber. Were you done with the list of what's going on, because of course we've got Michigan apples and an apple a day keeps the doctor away. I like that one.
Shanthi Appelö:
Yeah. Well, I think it's important too to just touch on some research, because I think there's a lot of misconceptions about fruit out there. Like, oh my goodness, it's got so much sugar. I think we've been in this world for a couple of decades, where people are a little bit afraid of carbohydrates and even those that come from sugar. So there's no such thing as really too much fruit. I think there's such a thing as too much everything. But the recommendations is two one-cup servings of fruit a day, and then the rest, to fill out that math, is vegetables. So three servings of vegetables. But actually as a society, we really don't get enough. In America alone, if you look at CDC data from 2019, only 12.3% of Americans met the fruit recommendation for a day. Not to call out the men out there, but they were the lowest intake, at 10.1% of meeting that recommendation.
So I think it's not something we should be afraid of. It does provide so many nutrients. We mentioned the fiber. Antioxidants are huge, so they're those molecules that help you fight off the harmful free radicals that can form in your body from environmental triggers and things like that. And having too many of those free radicals in the body can contribute to health conditions, like different types of cancers and diabetes and heart disease. So we want to get all these plant-based foods, because not only do they have those antioxidants, but they also have phytochemicals. They are these active plant compounds that, there are so many of them, we don't really know what all of them do, but we do know that they have a preventive role. Then of course they provide a lot of that water.
So lots of benefits to be had, and there's a lot of studies that show that fruit itself can provide a lot of protective health benefits. For example, there was a review of nine studies that found that every additional serving of fruit every day reduce the risk of heart disease by 7%. So that was a review study and significant findings.
Chuck Gaidica:
Well, the other part of this, as you're mentioning all of these fruits, maybe cantaloupe, peaches, maybe don't qualify, but even the skin of an apple, think of the dark colors that you're speaking of in terms of berries, strawberries, raspberries, even grapes up north, where they're making wine. We've always heard about going for the colors. I think that that is the bountiful notion of summer in my mind for Michigan, is that's kind of a bonus. It's not only aesthetically pleasing to have a big bowl of something fresh from Michigan, but there's that added benefit beyond everything you've talked about, which is all great.
Shanthi Appelö:
Yeah. Then not to call wine out, but we always hear of resveratrol, the antioxidant that's found in wine, and people are like, "Oh, well, I drink my red wine for heart health," because it's found on the skin of red grapes. But you can actually find it in a lot of other fruits too. Blueberries is really rich in resveratrol. A lot of those really dark-colored fruits are going to be rich in them, so that's good.
Now, I think where you can go overboard with fruit is going to be in the case of juice. So we don't want to have any more than about four ounces of fruit juice a day. The reason for that is, when you squeeze the fruit, it opens up the cells and releases the sugar. So when you drink that glass of, let's just say orange juice, or apple juice, that sugar is going to get into your blood faster, and that's what can impact blood sugar. So you're going to feel hungrier sooner. You're not going to get the fiber. So having the whole fruit is definitely something that's good.
If you're afraid of eating fruit because of the sugar, it's a good idea just to compare that to having something like cake or cookies, because not only are you missing out on fiber and things like that, but you're getting a lot more fullness and you're not getting all the fat and things like that that are found in the sugary food. So we don't want to compare. We basically don't want to compare fruit to other sweets.
Chuck Gaidica:
Yeah. But now, if I were looking at juice or juicing versus taking a handful of my favorite blueberries and throwing them into a protein drink or something else in my bullet, that's still different, because I'm getting all the fruit in there. I'm not just getting the squeezed juice of something, right?
Shanthi Appelö:
Right. Whenever you're juicing, there's potential that you can still keep the pulp and it's got a little bit more fiber. But yeah, the whole fruit is going to be better, but smoothies are still going to be great, especially because you're including everything.
Chuck Gaidica:
Yeah. I like to use the frozen stuff because that just makes it even more specialer, it just tastes awesome.
Shanthi Appelö:
It makes it smooth and creamy.
Chuck Gaidica:
Yeah, yeah. No, it's good stuff. Anything else in particular about these fruits that you would be interested in all of us knowing about?
Shanthi Appelö:
Well, I think when it comes to picking them, it's a good idea to think about how they ripen. I know that in Michigan here, we have a lot of U-Pick farms. We've got the strawberries, the cherries, you can go pick apples at the orchards. There's a concept that we've talked about before, and it's climacteric and non-climacteric fruits. The climacteric ones are going to be giving off ethylene gas and continue to ripen. That also means that when they are around other fruits and vegetables, they're going to give off this gas to promote them to continue to ripen.
So whenever we're thinking about picking strawberries, for example, it's going to be non-climacteric, which means it's not going to continue to ripen. So we don't want to pick stuff that has some green and white still on there. We want to pick the ones that are the most ripe. When it comes to peaches, if you know that you're going to eat a peach maybe in three days, maybe you don't want to pick the most ripe one that is super juicy and fresh. So just thinking about how we are going to use them and also how they'll keep ripening. Because sometimes I think we think to ourselves, "Oh, well, this cherry, it'll be good in a few days," but they won't keep ripening.
Chuck Gaidica:
Yeah. Now, what about melon then? We know cantaloupe and watermelon, right? We tend to think that we've got to have our test. I see so many different tests> When I'm walking past somebody, they're knocking. It's like my head, "Oh yeah, there's space in there."
Shanthi Appelö:
I do that, but honestly, I can't say I know what I'm doing.
Chuck Gaidica:
I know. I know. Isn't that funny? I don't even know if it's a fifty-fifty deal for me. I think I know what I'm doing, but short of plugging it and actually tasting it, I come up, I don't know, I think it's worse than fifty-fifty odds for me about getting a good sweet one.
Shanthi Appelö:
Yeah. Yeah. I would say the same, unfortunately. Some fruits you can feel out. You can of course see if they're soft enough, especially those climacteric ones, like avocados and peaches. Of course, we don't have avocados here, but you know what I'm saying. Then with cherries, when you're picking them, you maybe sometimes can't tell by the color, but you can tell by how easy they come off the stem. So you want the stem to still be able to be attached and come off really easily, and if it doesn't come off easily, then you shouldn't pick that one. You want to let that one hang out for a little longer.
Chuck Gaidica:
For small fruit, when you do your own picking, it may not be the best idea with an apple, and I'm not trying to sneak anything, but if I were picking cherries up near Traverse City, if I taste one and I figure out this is a good batch, I'm going for it, I'm just going to keep picking. So some of those are small enough to give you a little taste test. Strawberries could be included there. When you're picking those, that's a lot easier than grabbing some apples and going for it without paying for it, yeah.
Shanthi Appelö:
I remember going to a U-Pick farm as a kid. This was in Sweden, and my sister and I went with my grandparents, and my grandparents told my sister, "They're going to weigh you before, so you can't eat too many when you're in there." So on the way out, my sister was destroyed. She was like, "I'm so sorry. I've been eating so many."
Chuck Gaidica:
Oh, is that funny? I've never heard that one. That's really something, yeah.
Shanthi Appelö:
A mean prank, but funny.
Chuck Gaidica:
Right, right. I want to go back to something you said, because I think the statistic between men and women jumped out to me, about men not consuming as much in terms of the quantity, however you're viewing that. But when you mentioned a cup of raspberries, even for those of us that eat a lot of stuff that we think is all good for us, that's a lot. To get eight grams of fiber, to try to get to that 25 level or something, I think what struck me is we don't have to think of this as one and done, we got to have it all at breakfast and have three cups of berries. This is a collective through the day. So if you're not into a whole cup of raspberries and you only got half a cup, well, you got time through the day, whether it's snacking or whether it's other meals, right?
Shanthi Appelö:
That's true. You don't have to eat it all in one sitting.
Chuck Gaidica:
Yeah, yeah.
Shanthi Appelö:
Yeah. Throw some on your yogurt, then have some as a snack, and pack it in that way. Of course, we get fiber in other ways throughout the day too.
Chuck Gaidica:
Are there any fruits, summer fruits, that you've found other interesting recipes, hacks for, that you want to share? I've never heard about shaving a frozen peach or something. That really sounds tasty, but anything else that you do that you've seen as a big win?
Shanthi Appelö:
I think cottage cheese with strawberries tastes really good on a toast with some balsamic reduction. So drizzle a little bit of that on there. So I think thinking outside the box a little bit in terms of how we think of fruits, because we often think of them in very sweet recipes and desserts, but they don't have to be that way. So for breakfast, yeah, toasting a little bit of bread, putting some low-fat cottage cheese for lots of protein. And I like the texture. I think it's a hit or miss for a lot of people. And then some fresh sliced strawberries on top is so good. Also, in your salads. I know a lot of people like fruit in their salads. And something I like to do with cantaloupe and melon in general is using one of those small melon ballers, and there's something about just, they taste candied almost, and they're in this perfect shape. There's just something about cutting fruit the right way that I really like.
Chuck Gaidica:
Well, in our household, my wife uses the phrase "Michigan salad" all the time. And I'll try to coax her, "Well, I think you should have some croutons." She's like, "No, no, no. This is going to be fruit, and this is going to be chicken breast, and it's going to be a Michigan salad." And it's one of those things where I think it's one of the phrases that a lot of us use to imply, it's the season, we're going for fruit in our salads, whether it has animal protein or not.
Shanthi Appelö:
Yeah, for sure. Then there's this idea that we want to make it last as long as we can. I do have a lot of tips for this.
Chuck Gaidica:
Oh, this is good. Okay.
Shanthi Appelö:
Yeah. The first thing starts with just keeping your fridge clean. You want to prevent mold and bacteria from flourishing that's already in there and can get on your fruit. And fruit is a place that mold and bacteria really likes to grow on, because it's got sweetness and it's got water source. It's got all of the conditions for bacteria and mold to want to grow. So it's also a good idea to wash your fruits before you store them. Also, think about, I know a lot of people like to prep their fruits and stuff, but storing them whole is going to make them last a whole lot longer. So the less surface area that you expose to air, the better. So if you can wrap stuff up, that's a good idea. Then also thinking about what you store together. We touched a little bit on that climacteric, non-climacteric conversation, and one of the fruits that emits the most ethylene gas is going to be bananas. So basically don't store your bananas around anything else, because it will cause them to ripen or spoil quicker. So strawberries and bananas, they're not friends when we store them.
Chuck Gaidica:
What is the differentiation of refrigeration? So you mentioned strawberries is one of those where I think I would say 99% of the time I get strawberries, I cut them up, I put them right in the fridge. Do we need to be putting berries and things like that right into the fridge?
Shanthi Appelö:
Yeah, yeah, for sure. That's going to make them last a lot longer. Most fruits, they're going to last a lot longer when you store them in the fridge. There's some exceptions to that rule, of course, are tomatoes. They're going to taste way better when they're sitting out on the counter. So yeah, I think it's definitely good to have a rule of thumb in your head for how you're going to store things. The air conversation is really important, because the more air generally, the faster they're going to spoil or ripen. So that's why that crisper drawer can be a really good idea too, to keep them in.
Chuck Gaidica:
And if we do like bananas, which we do in this household, is there any way to use those to our advantage? Can we ripen a tomato faster with the help of a banana or a bunch? Is there anything we can do like that?
Shanthi Appelö:
Yeah. So the way that I like to use bananas to my advantage is probably going to be with avocados, because they never seem ready at the time when I want them to be ready. So sometimes you go to the store and they're all not ripe, you can't find a single one, and you're like, "Well, I really wanted to have this, or serve avocado toast for my guests tomorrow," or whatever it might be. So pairing those together can be a good idea, and keeping them really close together. And then putting them in the sunlight and things like that can help them ripen quicker, again, if they're climacteric. If they're not, like your blueberries and cherries and things like that, nothing more is going to happen to them.
Chuck Gaidica:
So last takeaways for us as we wrap things up. So much good stuff. I'm already salivating for the summer fruits that aren't here yet.
Shanthi Appelö:
Yeah. So don't be afraid of the sugar that's in fruit. It's all good stuff, and it comes along with so many other benefits. Then, yeah, second, don't be afraid to get a little creative with them. I know that we have a lot of recipes featuring fruit on ahealthiermichigan.org, so check out some of those recipes.
Chuck Gaidica:
All right, great stuff. Shanthi, it's great to see you again. Thank you.
Shanthi Appelö:
You too, Chuck.
Chuck Gaidica:
Yeah, take good care.
Well, we're glad you were with us, and thanks for listening to A Healthier Michigan podcast. It's brought to you by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. If you like our show and you want to know more, you can check it out, Shanthi just mentioned it, ahealthiermichigan.org/podcast will get you to the podcast, but there's a ton of great stuff there. Nonetheless, you can check us out on our YouTube channel. You can leave us a review or rating on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, and you can follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter. You get new episodes, old episodes, for your smartphone or tablet. So be sure to subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app. I'm Chuck Gaidica. Be well.
