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Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Sweet Juicy Limes
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Although you might only think of limes in your tequila or beer, these little green fruits not only bring out the flavor in other foods, they have a wonderfully sunny flavor that always makes you think about beach vacations. It’s thought that limes originated in Southeast Asia and were then transported to North Africa and Egypt by traders during the 10th century. They were brought to Spain about 300 years later and then spread throughout Europe during the Crusades. Christopher Columbus brought lime trees to America on his second voyage.
The most common limes in the US are sour limes and they are used in all sorts of food preparations as well as toothpastes, skin cream, candles, and disinfectants. Limes can offer us so much more than great food and terrific smells – they are also loaded with health benefits.
Take a look at the top ways limes can give you a health boost and a tangy flavor to your food at the same time.
1. Improve Your Immune System
Like most citrus fruits, limes are full of vitamin C, which improves your immune system and offers long term support. This means it can help you fight off cold and flu viruses as well as other chronic diseases. Read more how to get a super strong immune system naturally.
2. Prevent Kidney Stones
Lime juice has more citric acid than almost any other citrus fruit including oranges or grapefruits. Kidney stones are made of crystallized calcium and the citric acid in limes is a natural inhibitor of a buildup of this type of calcium. So feel free to squeeze some lime juice into your next glass of water and say bye-bye to those painful kidney stones.
3. Lowers Cholesterol
Hesperidin, the main flavonoid in limes, has been shown in studies to lower triglyceride and cholesterol levels in animal studies. You can get the most of this flavonoid by eating as much as that white pith that surrounds the fruit as possible.
4. Kills Internal Parasites
Lime juice was tested in a children’s hospital in Nigeria to check its effectiveness as a treatment for parasites. Anti-malaria medicine was placed in lime juice and researchers found that the amount of parasites in these children was considerably lower. In fact, subjects that were given both lime juice and medication experienced a complete recovery in 72 hours compared to the other subjects that were given medication only.
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