Have you ever heard of pluots before? It is actually a hybrid fruit oozing with essential nutrients. Pluots offer many impressive health benefits, including the ability to speed up the body’s recovery process, prevent diabetes, prevent various types of cancer, boost vision, increase fluid intake, regulate the digestive system and boost immunity, among other things. There is actually more to pluots than meets the eye. Give this article a read to learn more about this fruit.
What is a Pluot?
Maybe you’ve heard of it, and maybe you haven’t. They may have a funny name, but the health benefits of pluots are no laughing matter. The pluot is a hybrid of two fruits: apricots and plums. It tends to look more like a plum than an apricot, though. They are also sometimes referred to as plumcots or apriums, depending on where you buy them or where they are grown.
Pluots were first created by Floyd Zaiger, who spend years experimenting with plums and apricots before settling on this delicious hybrid. The first pluot was sold in 1989. Pluots have the texture of a plum and a very sweet flavour, but they’re exterior has the soft, fuzzy texture of an apricot. There are dozens and dozens of varieties of this fruit that have emerged over the last two decades as farmers continue to experiment with the hybridization. Regardless of what variety you eat, though, you’re bound to benefit from the nutrients it offers.
Nutritional Content of Pluots
There is nearly zero cholesterol in pluots, and they have a relatively low calorie content at just 80 calories per fruit. However, there is a large amount of sugar, vitamin C and vitamin A in them. This is in addition to various capricious organic compounds, beta-carotene, protein and dietary fiber.
Health Benefits of Pluots
Here are some of the most interesting health benefits of pluots:
- Helps improve fluid intake. One of the most popular health reminders is to drink lots of water, and pluots can help prevent dehydration, metabolic inefficiency and lots of other health conditions.
- Helps control diabetes. The fiber content of pluots is essential in preventing and managing diabetes by regulating the rate at which your body absorbs sugar and ensuring your levels don’t spike. The fiber alone helps you avoid a lot of common diseases and digestive issues.
- Possesses antioxidant properties. The vitamins A and C in pluots are essential for humans, because they act like antioxidants for the body. They even help neutralize free radicals, which can help prevent conditions like cancer.
- Helps speed up healing. The vitamin C in pluots keeps the body healthy by regulating the metabolism and increasing the speed at which we develop new tissue and heal our wounds.
- Helps boost the immune system. Vitamin C is also good for the immune system, stimulating the production of white blood cells, which are a major line of defense against foreign substances and lethal pathogens.
Potential Side Effects of Pluots
The sugar level of the pluots is much higher than most other fruits, so if you already struggle to balance your sugar intake, you should avoid them. Sooner or later, diabetic tendencies will outweigh your intake. Other than that, enjoy your delightful pluots to your heart’s content!