Fruit from Heaven

In rural Northern Vietnam many homes are decorated with trellises laden with vines that spiral up toward the sky. The fruit begins as a green cantaloupe-like fruit that eventually ripens into a brilliant dark red-orange. The vines are very easy to grow but the ripe fruit is only available seasonally. It is known affectionately as “Fruit from Heaven” because of the way it grows and its impressive health benefits. It is said to promote health, vitality and longevity.

Super Antioxidant Properties

Lycopene is the red pigment that gives the gac fruit and others such as watermelon, pink grapefruit and tomatoes their color. It has been shown to have excellent antioxidants effects and helps to lower the risk of cardiovascular disease and prostate cancer. Studies show that men with high amounts of lycopene in their body fat were 50% less likely to suffer from heart attacks. (Lycopene is a fat-soluble nutrient.) A completely ripe gac fruit at its deepest color intensity provides about 70 times more lycopene in a commercial tomato.

Lycopene is not naturally produced by the body so it must be included in the diet. Since it is fat soluble, it must be eaten along with some form of dietary fat to be absorbed by the body. Studies showed that eating foods high in lycopene can reduce the risk of prostate cancer by as much as 34%. It also helps to lower blood pressure and balance low blood sugar and hyperglycemia.

As an antioxidant, lycopene scavenges for “free radicals” in the body caused by stress, body metabolism and environmental toxins that attack healthy cells and instigate aging-related diseases, heart disease and cancer. It also helps to disarm the free radicals responsible for instigating osteoporosis and UV skin damage. It has been suggested that lycopene helps to improve fertility in men. It is recommended that foods containing lycopene such as gac fruit are consumed daily for the antioxidant health benefits.

If the gac fruit is not a bright red is it not ripe enough to eat. It starts out green, about the size of a cantaloupe and as it ripens goes through the yellow and orange spectrum until it reaches a brilliant orange-red hue. They are at their peak when they turn a brighter red just before spoiling.

How to Eat Gac Fruit

Warning! Do not eat the sides, which is similar to the inner texture of a cantaloupe. This part of the fruit, as well as the exterior rind are toxic and will make you feel ill for a couple days if you attempt to eat it. The only parts that can be eaten are the inner soft, oily pulp surrounding the seeds and the seeds themselves.

The gac fruit diet in Southeast Asian countries really only consists of those part of the fruit. The oil is used to make the famous Vietnamese dish, xoi gac – a dish representing life and vitality served at weddings and special celebrations. The oil and seeds have mild nutty flavor, that is unobtrusive in rice dishes or smoothies, but pack a powerful nutritional punch.

Carotenoids for Disease Prevention

The fruit is very high in carotenoid antioxidants that help to fight off the ravages of toxins in the environment that lead to disease and symptoms of aging. Gac fruit contains about 40 times more zeaxanthin than corn. This is the antioxidant that promotes eye health and lowers the chances of getting cataracts and macular degeneration due to aging. There has really been nothing else discovered medically that offers this type of protection to the eyes.

Inadequate intake of carotenoids through the foods we eat does not produce any noticeable short-term effects. Over time lack of these particular antioxidants is linked to chronic health situations such as heart disease and cancers. A gac fruit diet dramatically boosts the levels of carotenoids in the body, thereby helping to lower the susceptibility to these maladies.