Coconutty

Part of our routine is a daily visit to our preferred fruit stand. The vendor has a variety of fruit sitting on ice ready to be chopped for anyone who passes by. There is watermelon, papaya, pineapple, guava, candied guava, green mangoes and a favourite...young coconut. We have tried all these fruit and agree that the pineapple and coconut are our favourites (watermelon a close second for me).

The coconut is the size of a large grapefruit, and the vendor taps it with the blunt edge of a knife to crack a lid-sized section out of the hard husk. She pries it open, pops in a straw, and collects her 10 Baht ($0.32). The coconut water is sweet and mild with a almondy flavour. I have never had coconut water this delicious before. So, after I developed a daily addiction to this fruit, I decided to find out how nutritious it actually was.

An excerpt from www.wikipedia.org follows (because I am allowed to do that sort of thing now that I am out of school)...

Coconut water is the liquid endosperm inside young coconuts. As the coconut matures this liquid largely becomes absorbed into the flesh found in mature coconuts. Coconut water has long been a popular drink in the tropics, especially in Tropical Asia and Trinidad and Tobago, where it is available fresh or bottled. It is naturally fat-free and low in food energy (16.7 calories per 100 grams).
Coconuts for drinking are packaged and sold in many places. These are typically Thai coconuts whose outer green husk has been removed, and the remainder wrapped in plastic. In Central America, particularly in Costa Rica it is found and sold in strategic highway stops or in the beaches, there, the coconut water is called "agua de pipa", and the coconut is cut in front of the customer to assure its freshness. Coconut water can also be found in regular cans or tetra paks(and often has coconut pulp or coconut jelly added) and is also marketed as a sports drink because of its high potassium and mineral content which helps the body recover from rigorous exercise. However, over-consumption of coconut water (or other coconut products) can produce laxative effects. Depending on tolerence, a maximum of 4 green coconuts worth of coconut water can be consumed per day without undue effects.

The most interesting thing that I found out about coconuts was that since the water is sterile, it was used during WWI as an intravenous fluid! How amazing! I can just picture the coconut hanging from an IV stand...

And, no need to worry, I will stay under the 4 coconut maximum to prevent undue effects.