Fruit & Veggie Trivia

Let's see how you did. 

1. What fruit do Americans eat most often?
   Bananas contain potassium, which is essential for well-functioning nerves and muscles. 
2. Thomas Jefferson is credited with introducing this food to America.
   The fiber in eggplant can lower your risk of coronary heart disease. 
3. Which fruit’s juice was used for centuries to dye fabric?
   Pomegranates provide antioxidants, good for combating damage to your cells. 
4. This food has the highest content of beta carotene of all vegetables.
   The beta carotene in carrots delivers vitamin A to keep your vision sharp. 
5. What was the first fresh fruit to bear a trademark?
   The orange — Sunkist snagged the first fresh fruit trademark — gives you a good dose ofvitamin C to boost your resistance to germs and illnesses. 
6. This vegetable is one of the oldest foods known to humans.
   Artichokes have been eaten since ancient times, long before humans knew that the magnesium they contain contributes to bone strength.

Bonus question: One of the foods we’ve named, which most people serve as a vegetable, actually is botanically classified as a fruit. Which one is it?
The eggplant belongs to the berry family.

Although these food factoids are fun to know, the power of fruits and vegetables is far from trivial. Eating five to nine servings daily can decrease your risk of developing a number of deadly and debilitating diseases. All in all, a diet filled with veggies and fruit can help you be healthy, wealthy (in nutrients) and wise — especially if you eat lots of sweet corn, which contains memory-boosting thiamin!