As you ring in the new year, you also mark the end of the Christmas season treats and meals that you have been shamelessly eating while continuously telling yourself you will eat healthier when you get back to school. If you were lucky, your relatives gave you some fitness class gift cards for Christmas, but now you have to use them and there is nothing fun about breathing heavily in the first fifteen minutes of a class.
But there is good news! 2019 brings a whole new list of food trends and health foods with benefits people will swear by. Here is the low down on one of the newest additions to that list, Baobab.
The Basics
Baobabs are huge trees that can be found in Africa and Australia, and while they may look fairly bare in photos, it turns out they produce fruit that are packed full of vitamins you need in your daily routine. The fruit includes vitamin C, as well as anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties. To break it down so you know exactly what can do for you, the fruit pulp can improve the health of your skin (get that winter time glow), and improve your digestive and immune system. There are lots of things the fruit has been used for in the past, but the main point is that you have a new fruit to mix into your smoothies that will potentially give you great skin and help you fight sickness this season.
How You Can Eat It
For the most part, the fruit pulp is turned into powder that can be mixed into smoothies, protein shakes, and any other liquid mixture that you want to add a citrus tang to. There are also some fruity chews that you can buy with baobab in them, which I took the liberty of trying because who doesn't like fruit snacks? The Baobab Superfruit Snacks are from baobabfoods, and they come in fourteen flavors, with a couple of customizable flavors. After trying the peach mango, I can confidently say they are quite addicting. They helped with some stomach irritation, but I think I would need to buy a bigger bag to feel the longterm effects of immune support (they were gone in two days). If you don't want to sit down and eat half a bag, they can also be put in salads and grain bowls in lieu of cranberries or raisins.
If the whole idea of dried fruits or fruit snacks of any kind grosses you out, don't get disappointed yet. The same company sells powders you can mix into anything you want, but there are also endless options online in terms of brands you can buy from. They also sell oil, which you can apply directly onto your skin if you are more interested in the cosmetic use. The oil can even act as your new moisturizer or conditioner (goodbye coconut oil). However you plan to use it, feel confident that you knew about baobab before your local smoothie shop started putting it in everything.