Pears: Gift of the Gods

Homer, famous author of the Odyessy, called pears “gift of the gods.” That was in 800 B.C. Thousands of years before and thousands of years later, there are many (including me) who would agree.

Did you know?

Pears were cultivated in 5000 B.C. in China by Feng Li, a Chinese diplomat as a commercial venture.
The Chinese believed that the pear was a symbol of immortality. (Pear trees live for a long time.)
In Greek and Roman mythology, pears are sacred to three goddesses.
Pears are members of the rose family.
There are more than 5,000 varieties of pears! (When I was at the farmer’s market a guy showed me 5 varieties last week; I was impressed.)
Pear trees can produce fruit for up to 100 years.
Pears were cultivated to become the sweet juicy taste we know today.
Pears are Powerfoods.

Pears…:

have more nutrients per calorie than calories per nutrient (surprising since they are so sweet). They are what I call a Smart Carb.
are a good source of dietary fiber, vitamin C, copper & vitamin K.
are often considered a hypoallergenic fruit that is less likely to produce an adverse response than other fruits by healthcare practitioners.
are often the first fruit fed to infants as a safe way to start.

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Read more: Diet & Nutrition, Food, Health, pears, Powerfoods

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Debbie C.

4:21AM PST on Feb 13, 2012

Wow. This is a lot of information about the Pear. I was impressed with them being part of the rose family, how many different varieties there are, and that they ripen best OFF the tree.

Paul M., you are very lucky to have a Pear tree!!

Thanks Diana for the great info.

February 13
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KS G.

12:31AM PST on Feb 9, 2012

Thanks for the article.

February 9
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Amanda S.

5:46AM PST on Feb 4, 2012

I love pears, but they seem to be a forgotten fruit!

February 4
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Caroline D.

1:42AM PST on Feb 4, 2012

Years ago I did a great recipe with red wine and cinnamon cooking them gently, however these days I use them in smoothies!

Diana H.

9:43AM PST on Jan 28, 2012

Happy to hear so many of you love pears like I do; for me they are a winter fruit because all my other favs are not fresh anymore. I have lots of them in the freezer.