Oh February the 14th, oh day of chocolate gluttony. Oh day of kindergartners sharing small heart shaped candy with each other. Oh day of spending hard earned dollars. Did you know the average person will spend $126 dollars today? There are all sorts of statistics on spending broken out by gender and age…what I care about are the spending statistics broken out by species. Yes, by species. According to a recent Petplan survey, 78% of pet owners said they will spend money on valentines gifts for their furry companions, the overwhelming majority will spend between 10 and 25 dollars on their furballs today!
When it comes to Valentine’s Day treats there will be always be great debate about what the healthiest foods are to eat. Most people will extoll the nutritional and psychological benefits of dark chocolate until they run out of air. These folks have heated debates around the percentages of cocoa that are necessary to unleash the fountain of youth. Dark chocolate is great stuff, I’m not knocking it. but no treat says “I love you” more than the humble strawberry. The case for the strawberry is well documented…all the way back to Greek myth. Yes, the ancient greeks were all about it. Heck, strawberries are actually Aphrodite’s tears, did you know that? Yeah, when Adonis croaked she was so verklempt her tears fell to the ground as strawberries. Her goddess tear ducts opened and instead of tears..strawberries came out of her tear ducts.
The Cherokee have a story about the origin of the strawberry as well….it goes a little something like this…. A woman was really angry at her husband,..the creator observed them quarreling and felt bad for the poor fellah so he chucked some strawberry plants down from his heavenly garden. The plants fell to earth,…actually they plummeted, but instead of landing like space junk,.. they softly arrived at the feet of the angry wife as she strolled in the forest. She was surprised to have these random plants fall at her feet. She was also a pretty trusting gal, because she decided to eat the strawberries. Guess what happened. She forgot her anger! The end.
Beyond the power of myth, strawberries are a nutritional dynamo! Did you know a cup of strawberries has over 13% of your fiber RDA? Here’s the kicker…only 43 calories. How many cups can you eat? If you were really obsessed you could eat 12 cups and call it a ThinDish! You could probably find a better healthy option at a local restaurant, just saying. When ripe, strawberries are amazingly sweet which can curb a sugar tooth and a half! A cup will also give you like 136% o your vitamin C… pretty amazing…some might say…divine? Next time you are reaching for a chalky grey pill with “rose hips” in it for your vitamin C consider your friend the healthful strawberry instead!
Oh I forgot to add,….give your sweetheart a few strawberries on Valentine’s day will ya? Tell him or her about their origins in the tear ducts of a goddess, or tell them about the vitamin C..or don’t say anything….OR you could have them after enjoying some ThinDishes at a healthy restaurant near you. Share a basket of strawberries!
