Fruit Ninja

Fruit Ninja is a fun video game where you slice fruit with a sword after it has been tossed in the air. I prefer to cut my fruit on a cutting board where I can enjoy both the inside and the outside of the fruit and savor the aroma of fresh Washington apples, peaches, pears – you name it.  The inside of the fruit tells a lot about its nutritional habitus. For instance, when you cut open a peach or apricot, you see deep orange and yellow hues which belong to the carotenoid family and provide precursors to vitamin A, necessary for maintaining our skin, vision and healthy turnover of all our trillion cells. Whether you’re slicing, cutting or biting into a blueberry, cranberry, strawberry or raspberry, enjoy the many functional vibrant colors that they offer.

William Li MD is a cancer researcher who studies the anti-cancer effects that various foods have on our bodies. In his 2010 TED talk, Dr. Li introduces a concept called antiangiogeneis, where eating certain foods helps reduce the capillary blood flow to cancers and tumors in animals and humans. One of his slides shows a variety of functional foods, many of which are grown here in Washington! He also introduces the concept of food synergy, where combining more than one fruit, vegetable, herb, spice, wine, and tea has an even greater anti-cancer effect.  

Besides being a good fruit ninja, keeping your vegetable knife in good use is also of tremendous value, as the spectrum of vegetables offer a variety of healthful anti-cancer compounds such as flavanols which boost our antioxidant defenses, similar to preventing rust on your car.

Playing a video game can be fun, but doesn’t provide the synergy and enjoyment of eating and drinking a wide variety of Washington grown fruits, vegetables, herbs, spices, teas, and wine.