I could spend my life trying to explain how a papaya tastes, but you would never truly know until you tasted it for yourself. For me, eating papaya creates a burst of mouth-watering bliss. Can one reduce the reality of heaven to the oral cavity? I would say yes, at least for a few moments!

I have been fortunate enough to wake up the last ten days on Kauai to an exotic array of fruits—coconuts, papayas, mangoes, lychees, tangerines, noni, guavas, pineapples, and rambutans to name a few. If any of these fruits does not generate a wave of gastronomical bliss, I don’t know what else will. I have never enjoyed waking up so eager to have breakfast. What a way to start a day!

At the end of the day, I have been hydrating myself with coconut water, which refreshes and revives me after an afternoon of running around. Fresh coconut water, is the liquid inside the coconut. Coconut water has a cool quality, which trickles down my throat. It feels as if it is absorbed by every cell of my body—another sumptuous culinary delight that can put one into a state of temporary rapture.

Each of these fruits has an abundance of health benefits and are nourishing to the whole physiology. They are packed with vitamins and minerals such as potassium, magnesium, copper, and cytokinins. They can reduce the risk of breast cancer, inflammation, as well as protect the heart.

Meeting the people of Kauai, I am touched with their profound respect for the land. They call themselves Keiki o ka ‘aina—children of the land. They believe that nature feeds man and man watches over nature in return.

I personally feel a wave of gratitude to mother nature for giving us such an extensive array of incredible health-giving fruits that are so euphorically delicious, while at the same time have so many benefit for one’s well-being.

From the beautiful land of Hawaii, Aloha!

Related:
1) Food for Enlightenment
2) Kauai—Paradise Found
3) Feed Your Face