It surprised me to learn recently that one of my favorite fruits − the kiwi − isn’t actually native to New Zealand like most people think and its name suggests. Known scientifically as Actinidia deliciosa or Actinidia chinensis, depending on the variety, the true origins of the kiwifruit can be traced back to ancient China, believe it or not. There it was long referred to as “Yang Tao” − which translated into English means “Chinese gooseberry.”
The little-known history of how the kiwifruit (before it was even called the kiwi) made its way around the world is a fascinating one. This fuzzy little fruit first left the borders of China a little over a century ago in 1904. A missionary educator by the name of Isabel Fraser took a particular liking to kiwi while on sabbatical in China, prompting her to smuggle the seeds of the fruit back home with her to New Zealand. After a little name-tweaking by a local food distributor that took notice of its newfound novelty and popularity, the kiwi would quickly become New Zealand’s national fruit. From there it eventually made its way abroad to the U.S., Europe, and elsewhere.
Today, the kiwi is one of the most beloved fruits in the world, cherished by millions for embodying what some might describe as the perfect balance of tartness, sweetness, and crunch. Its little black seeds adding a delectable and unique texture that’s hard to find in any other fruit. But the relevance of the kiwi goes far beyond just its bold flavor profile and satiability: the kiwifruit is also a powerful medicinal food with a lot to offer in the realm of healing nutrition.
Health Benefits of Kiwi Fruit: Rich in Vitamins, Minerals, and Omega-3 Fatty Acids
The immense health benefits of kiwifruit are perhaps the most overlooked aspect of this incredible little fruit. If they even know about it, many people take for granted the fact that the kiwi contains almost three times the recommended dietary allowance of vitamin C (roughly five times that of an orange), as well as high amounts of vitamin K, a fat-soluble vitamin that’s known to help blood clotting, build strong bones, and prevent heart disease, as well as guard against metabolic syndrome.
The kiwifruit’s vitamin K content alone makes it an incredible functional food, helping to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease while decreasing the likelihood of early death from all causes. That’s right, vitamin K is a true-to-life panacea in many ways, helping to protect against many of the most common chronic health conditions that lead to early death. Conditions such as atherosclerosis, osteoporosis, heart disease, diabetes, and cancer.
Kiwifruit is also rich in vitamin A, vitamin E, potassium, copper (the good kind that your body needs to complement zinc), and vitamin B6 and B12 (folate). Very few foods contain naturally high amounts of vitamin B6, which is unfortunate because this immune-supportive nutrient likewise helps protect against heart disease, chronic inflammation, cancer, and many other serious health conditions.
This one might come as a surprise, but kiwifruit is also densely packed with omega-3 fatty acids − yes, just like the kind found in fatty fish and saturated fats. Omega-3s have received quite a bit of attention in recent years for their supportive effects on both brain and heart health, and research shows that they also help “lubricate” the body, effectively removing triglycerides from the bloodstream while “greasing the wheels” of joints, tendons, and overall mobility.
Specifically with regards to cancer, the various phytonutrient, flavonoid, and antioxidant compounds present in the kiwi, both in its flesh and skin (yes, you can eat the skin of organic kiwifruit, and you should because it’s high in nutrients!) help to combat free radical damage, which left unchecked over time can lead to chronic disease. Oxidative stress in general provokes an inflammatory response throughout the body, potentially manifesting later on as anything from gut dysbiosis to malignant tumors. Hence the importance of consuming these kiwifruit compounds as part of a healthy diet.
The Kiwifruit: A Fibrous Food Rich in Gut-Balancing Prebiotics
It’s a fact that healthy digestion isn’t possible without an actively-diverse gut microbiome, and the kiwi is likewise helpful in this regard. Kiwi is a fibrous fruit rich in pectic polysaccharides and soluble fiber. The flesh of the kiwi, in particular, provides full-spectrum nourishment not only for you, but also for the billions upon billions of probiotic flora that populate your digestive tract in order to support your immune system and help you digest your food.
Research shows that consuming just a few kiwifruit per day generates a powerful prebiotic effect inside the body. Prebiotics are the soluble fiber material that’s designed specifically to nourish the probiotics (healthy bacteria) that live inside our guts. Beneficial microflora strains like Lactobacilli and Bifidobacteria greatly benefit from regular kiwi consumption, one human trial found, acting to balance out these “good” bacteria while promoting healthy bowel movements and aiding the body in better assimilating nutrients from food.
This study concluded that consuming kiwis acts quickly to exert these effects, “fertilizing” Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus so that they grow stronger and more populous. These prebiotics found in kiwifruit help improve the overall functionality of the digestive system, while at the same time bolstering the immune system, a bulk of which resides in the gastrointestinal tract.
Kiwi Seeds: Where the Vitamin E Lives
Since they’re ground-zero for where life starts, plant seeds are typically a treasure trove of vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients− and kiwifruit seeds are no exception. If you’re at all familiar with what the inside of a kiwifruit looks like, you already know that this fruit is literally jam-packed with tiny, black seeds that contain the highest levels of vitamin E, a powerful antioxidant, found anywhere else in the body of the fruit.
Vitamin E is responsible for performing a number of important functions throughout the body. These include regulating and balancing hormones, normalizing cholesterol levels, improving the moisture and elasticity of skin, strengthening hair, improving eyesight, protecting against memory loss and cognitive decline, and enhancing muscle strength and physical endurance levels. Vitamin E is so powerful of an antioxidant that it’s often used as a healing aid alongside conventional medical treatments to minimize their harmful side effects.
All in all, the kiwifruit is an exceptional powerhouse of nutrition that shouldn’t be overlooked as you stroll down the produce aisle. Consuming all parts of organic kiwi − and consuming them often − is a great way to supplement your diet with disease-preventing antioxidants, fiber, and other important nutrients that will keep your body clean, healthy, and functioning as it should… illness-free!
Under the paragraph, Health Benefits of Kiwifruit, I just wanted to point out that folate is not vitamin B12. B12 is cobalamin.
I eat kiwis almost every day and I even eat the skin too. I have started eating them, since you mentioned that they are high in antioxidants. Are eating kiwis also good for the bones too?
Ty should really know better by now, that Omega-3 from plants (such as a kiwi) is NOT the same as Omega-3 from animals (such as fish). The former is known as ALA and the latter is known as DHA. They are both important and healthy, but stating false claims that they’re the same misleads some people into thinking they can get all their Omega-3 needs from plants like kiwis and seeds when in fact they’re only getting ALA and not DHA.
You have the same problem with Vitamin K, not telling us whether kiwis contain K1 or K2. I suspect kiwis contain K1 which is found in leafy vegetables while K2 is found in some cheeses and fermented food products. Both healthy, but they perform different functions.
And as someone mentioned above, Vitamin B12 is not folate. I believe this is a typo because B12 is only found in animal products and so kiwis wouldn’t have any. They have folate though.
By the way, I love kiwis and have been eating the skin too since I discovered several years ago that it was a lot more convenient that attempting to cut all the skin off and making a mess 🙂 There’s a variety at my local store called Golden Kiwi (I think) that’s less fuzzy than the common kind, so I’ve been eating those mostly. Maybe other people unsure about eating the fuzziness can try this variety?
Minor correction: the less fuzzy kiwi variety I mentioned is called “Sun Gold” kiwis. Ate one today at lunch and checked the sticker 🙂
Just cut it in half and spoon out the delicious flesh and seeds mmmmmm!
I didn’t see where this article addressed eating the skin and what nutrient may be there, as it stated in the title. Also, the Vit K if (and most likely) K1 is diff. than K2 forms and their functions. Anyone know what type of K is in Kiwi?
Under “Health Benefits of Kiwi Fruit” it states that kiwi is a source of vitamin B12 (folate). Vitamin B12 is cobalamin, and is not found in plant foods. Folate/folic acid is actually B9.
I thought Vit K clots the blood? The skin of Kiwi fruit is a natural digestive aid.
Readers also need to be warned about the dangerous levels of agricultural and post-harvest chemicals in skins, and can still be found in “Certified Organic” produce. This cannot be washed off and is systemuc. Also mentioning the food value of seeds is irrelevant unless we put the whole food through high speed blender. Tiny seeds go right through us without concerning nutritional value other than fiber
Ariel this does not sound right. Certified organic produce does not use chemicals, certainly not in New Zealand, Australia or Europe. Are you referring to produce grown in the USA? It is my understanding that it is not the case there either. There has been repeated propaganda put out by conventional growers, agrichemical companies and some science journals to suggest that organic growers use synthetic chemicals but this is a lie. The use of copper is severely restricted to use when trees are dormant as a cleanup and the permitted natural (plant based) insecticides and fungicides used by certified organic growers only when absolutely necessary are not systemic – only synthetic chemicals are. Bt when used is also safe.
Hello fellow healthies
I am a New Zealander and I can remember, growing up in the 60s, we had a kiwifruit vine in the back yard,lovely having kiwifruit on hand whenever you wanted it.
In the sixties kiwifruit were known as ‘Chinese gooseberries’. The name was changed later when production of kiwifruit increased and large numbers were being exported.
The fruit exporting company decided a new name for the fruit was required to identify where it was coming from and maybe help it to sell better. I think it worked!!
Ok, I did some research about Vitamin K. I am copying the following from the George Mateljan Foundation, at http://www(dot)whfoods(dot)com/genpage(dot)php?tname=nutrient&dbid=112
“The K1 form of vitamin K is found in plant foods, and 44 of our WHFoods are plant foods that serve as excellent, very good, or good sources of vitamin K! Many of our best sources of this vitamin are green vegetables (including 16 excellent sources); this makes good sense since K1 is required for green plants to conduct the process of photosynthesis. The K2 form of vitamin K is made from K1 and K3 by bacteria and other microorganisms. It can also be made in the human body through a conversion process involving K1 and K3.
In plant foods, you won’t find much preformed K2, unless those plant foods have been fermented or otherwise transformed by bacteria or other microorganisms. Certain microorganisms can convert K1 into K2. A great example is Bacillus natto. This bacterium can convert K1 into K2 and it is often used in the production of fermented soy products. In fact, this practice is so common that you will sometimes find the word “natto” being used to refer to these foods. Fermented soyfoods on our WHFoods list—including tempeh and miso—can contain significant amounts of K2. (And as plant foods, they also naturally contain K1.) Most of our WHFoods animal foods also contain K2, although the amounts are relatively small and insufficient to qualify them as excellent, very good, or good sources of vitamin K.
A third type of vitamin, found preformed in food but in very small amounts, is menadione, or vitamin K3. We don’t yet have good research on the health role of these small of K3 amounts in food.”
So it seems kiwis contain Vitamin K1. Most foods said to contain Vitamin K will end up being K1, as K2 is created during fermentation. Hopefully this will be case closed for now. 🙂
Ah, so links are allowed. Oops. Please click on this link: http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=nutrient&dbid=112
Make sure that you only eat organic kiwifruit as non-organic kiwifruit growers use a cocktail of chemicals on the vines.
Kiwi fruit are the luscious fruit high in the carbohydrate and essential nutrition required for the human body. Thanks for sharing Majestic information.
Tremendous things here. I’m very glad to see your article.
Thank you so much and I am looking ahead to touch
you. Will you kindly drop me a mail?