July 8th, 2021


Have you seen a strange looking fruit in the stores that on the outside looks like a dirty potato and on the inside looks like a cross between a mango and a pumpkin? Well, that’s the fruit mamey! 


Mamey is such a nutrient rich fruit containing high amounts of vitamins C, A and B6, and minerals Copper, Iron and Potassium as well as Fiber. Fiber is a carbohydrate that cannot be broken down by your digestive system, and is either soluble or insoluble.


So how does soluble and insoluble fiber aid in digestive health and weight loss?

Let’s start with soluble fiber. This is fiber that a lot of people may not be aware of, but is very important for gut flora! Soluble fiber found in foods like mamey contribute to increases in good bacteria in your large intestine and actually nourishes them. Soluble fiber can dissolve in water and pass through the digestive system to the large intestine where it is turned into energy by gut bacteria. Different gut bacterial species play different roles in the body, such as blood sugar control which contributes to weight loss, regulating metabolism, improving immunity and even assisting in brain function!


Conversely, insoluble fiber cannot dissolve in water and passes through the digestive system mostly unchanged and acts as an internal ‘brush’, cleaning and bulking up the waste products in our stool as they exit the body. This type of fiber adds bulk to your gut thereby suppressing your appetite by making you feel full so that you probably eat less and less food means less calories and a higher likelihood of healthy weight loss. The higher the fiber in foods, the better it is at reducing your appetite and extra food intake. 


The sweet fruit mamey contains about 9 grams of soluble and insoluble fiber per one cup serving which equates to almost half of the daily fiber recommendations for a day between 21 to 38 grams depending on your age and gender. This fiber not only acts as a bulking agent which stimulates smooth bowel movements, but also aids in intestinal bacterial health which helps to delay the onset of hunger. Thirty percent of this fruit’s carbohydrates come from starch and it is these complex carbohydrates that contribute to long-term satiety because they take us longer to digest.

 

Additionally, the insoluble fiber found in mamey take up space in your stomach to help you feel fuller on fewer calories, and its soluble fiber slows the rate at which digested food exits your stomach, lessening the need to eat more, all of which can contribute to healthy weight loss! 

 

However, at approximately 200 calories per fruit, it is not advisable to consume one every day if you are hoping to lose weight. Eating mamey in moderation has numerous excellent properties to aid in both digestive health and weight management!

 

This fruit has a unique and creamy taste and is often described as being a combination of pumpkin, apricot, and almond. The texture is similar to that of a mango, sweet potato and avocado mash –up but try it for yourself and see what you think! 

To select the best one for consumption, ensure it has been picked when it is mature because only mature fruit continue to ripen even after they are harvested. To check its maturity, slightly scratch the surface. Under the brown outer skin, it should not be green.  Look for mamey with smooth skin, blemish, scratch, cut, crack, bruise and wrinkle free, and is firm not hard nor soft to touch. Think of the texture of an avocado to get a better gauge. Give this creamy mamey a try with my filling recipe below!


MAMEY SATISFYING SMOOTHIE

Serves 2 glasses

1 mamey

1 cup oat milk

1 tablespoon linseeds

½ teaspoon cinnamon  


Cup open the mamey, remove the seed and spoon out the contents into a blender. Add the oat milk, linseeds and cinnamon with the mamey and blend well. It will blend to a thick consistency, add more oat milk depending on the size of the mamey. It makes a great breakfast or snack option and will have you feeling full for hours!