In the Philippines, the Lord's blessing for urchins, and for keeping healthy is the Guava tree
All kids who knew any Guava tree in the neighborhood,
whether in their own garden or down the street on that vacant lot, would
wait for the best moment to drag their accomplices in crime, to climb
the Guava tree. The nasty little greedy urchins would make sungkit with a pole with a
wire hoop at the end, to snare the fruit hanging from the highest
branches of the tree. Then they'd do this to the other fruit trees in
the neighborhood, find somewhere to divvy up the loot. Having a feast
before going home and catching diarrhea from eating grubby fruit.
Otherwise,
Guava makes for a mighty fine grab-all-you can munchy fruit, whether your get
the oversized Guapple version (the size of large apples) or the native
bayabas that are as big as your fist at best
Some use it when ripe, as a
vegetable for pork sinigang (the working man's version of bouillabaise
soup in the Philippines). Kids and most Guava eating folks prefer the
munchy cunchy variety, which is on its way to ripening but still crisp,
over the soft, ripe one—which is highly vulnerable to maggots.
Picking Guapples off trees are a favorite Pinoy pasttime among kids of all ages.
Guava fruit is a natural powerhouse of vitamins and phyto-chemicals, and antioxidants. Guavas are a hardy fruit, and can ripen on their own without the need for pesticides, their only downside being maggot paradise: when flies or ants get to the fruit before you pick them off the tree. Eating guava can help aid and heal your body if you are hit with diarrhea, dysentery, constipation, coughs, colds, skin care, high blood pressure, weight loss or something as bad as scurvy.
Stay Healthy and Lose Weight, or Regain your Appetite!
Guava can help fat dudes lose weight without compromising their intake of proteins, vitamins and fiber. The fruit is very high in roughage and is very filling, nutritious snack and that satisfies the appetite very easily. The nutrients in guava also help enhance your appetite, so you can gain weight and recover from illnesses where you lose nutrients and protein as repair components for your body.
Guavas are some of the best sources of vitamin-A, and can help slow down macular degeneration among us who are getting along in age. Adding guava to your regular fruit diet can also help regular your blood sugar to avoid diabetes.
Guava leaf oil has been proven as a really effective anti-proliferative substance even better than cancer medicines. Guavas are also rich in lycopene--when they ripen and have a pinkish color; it is a powerful antioxidant that reduces stress and helps your body repair itself when worn down. Guava fruit has four times the vitamin C found in oranges (the traditional vitamin-C powerhouse),
The large cross breed of a Guava and an apple called Guapples are the new rage among Guava lovers because they offer more fruit to munch and are hardier against worm attacks.
Guavas help you avoid malnutrition diseases like scurvy--a disease where your body falls apart from malnutrition. This great Pinoy kids' favorite is very rich in alkaline astringents (compounds that make your gums feel tighter and fresher). If you chew guava leaves, eat a raw guava, or use some guava-based toothpaste), your mouth feels healthier, this also tones your digestive system, and disinfects the stomach from bacterial parasites.
Guava fruit is one of the richest sources of dietary fiber in terms of fruit. Its seeds, if ingested whole or chewed, serve as excellent laxatives. Frequent consumption of guava can help aid digestion and bowel movement.
By washing your skin with bath water from boiling its immature fruit and leaves, you can tone up and tighten loose skin and keep your skin glowing and free from signs of premature aging, and other dermal problems. If you have suffered from the measles or chicken pox, a bath with guava-infused hot bath water can help your lesions heal faster.
The crushed leaves can be used as a poultice ingredient for homeopathic healing remedies.
Another off-the-grid staple to have in your backyard. If the drugstores run out of medicine in any extreme situation, you can easily get what you need if you have a tree or three of Guava growing mightily in your backyard.
Even if the neighborhood kids raid it every now and then without your permission. Just leave the overripe ones on the tree when you harvest so they get what they deserve... When the flies get to the fruit first.
