So, I'm sitting in the dentist's office waiting to see if I need a root canal and I pick up an old copy of Backpacker Magazine. Flipping through the pages, I spot a little blurb about, of all things, FIGS! Man, I never really considered the fig as anything special but was I ever wrong.
Seems like this super fruit has been revered throughout the ages. Fig remnants have been found in archeological digs dating back to at least 5000 BC. Ancient cultures considered the fig tree a symbol of peace and plenty, abundance and initiation, and power and life. It was a sacred luxury fruit.
Plato called figs "food for athletes" and rightly so. Figs are fat free, sodium free, and cholesterol free. The fruit contains proteolytic enzyme which aids digestion and also psoralens which is used to treat skin pigmentation diseases and promotes tanning. Figs have more dietary fiber (both soluble and insoluble) than any other fruit and provides 526.18 mg of potassium and .29 mg of manganese not to mention iron and calcium. Their high alkaline rate has even helped people quit smoking.
Gophers love to chew on fig tree roots while birds love to peck away at the fruit itself. All harvested figs in the United States come from California's Central Valley.
Now, knowing all this information caused me to go out and buy a tub o' figs at my local grocery store yesterday. I must say they're purdy darn tasty! I consumed a half dozen for breakfast this morning then went out and had a short jog in the chilly air. I felt remarkable and damn if my skin doesn't feel more toned!
Summary- GO EAT SOME FIGS!!
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