What the heck is a Pomelo?

Last week in the grocery store as I was grabbing some organic bananas above the citrus fruits, I noticed this giant thing that I thought perhaps was a grapefruit but it was labeled “pummelo.” Being the adventurous raw foodie I am, I grabbed one and put it in my cart. This citrus fruit which is in the family of the orange and the grapefruit, has more aliases than P.Diddy and is also known as pomelo, pummelo, Chinese grapefruit, shaddock, jabong…and the list seems to go on. The color of the pomelo and it’s flesh varies. The one I picked up looked just like a grapefruit but still had a great deal of green, and apparently they can be ripe when green.

This large diva fruit (sometimes can grow to 10″ in diameter) originates from South East Asia and tastes like a sweeter version of a grapefruit. Not only is it more citrus bang for your buck, it also apparently has 193% of DV of Vitamin C, beta carotene, nice amount of soluble fiber, B Vitamins, Vitamin A, calcium, iron, and potassium. Thus, the fruit sometimes known as pomelo is  great for infections, diseases, and has been used to cure fever, treat coughs, relieve sore throats, and my favorite…treat insomnia. Pretty groovy benefits if you ask me, plus add in the fact that it can assist with weight loss and of course helps to keep the body alkaline. I chose to eat it raw for breakfast, and it was definitely enough citrus to get me going in the morning. If you’re into grapefruits and oranges, and want to give the mother of all citrus fruits a try, I highly recommend the fruit sometimes known as pomelo. -XoXo Raw Girl