How 'Super' Is This Fruit?

Over the past several years, we've been bombarded with hype about 'superfruits' - but what is a 'superfruit', exactly, and are they really better than our native fruits? Is eating an expensive superfruit more beneficial to your health than eating a balanced, vegetable-rich diet? Are they worth the ecological and social cost, as compared with locally-produced fruit and vegetables?

These are all questions I've been asking myself for the past several years, and have been thinking all over again as a result of this recent article in the LA Times on the topic. The article doesn't go into extreme detail, but it's worth a read to get you thinking on a Monday - perhaps the next time you reach for a mangosteen-goji juice, you'll ask if it's really the best option.

Speaking of mangosteens, I'm including this picture to make a point. Only the milky-white interior of the fruit is traditionally edible, yet mangosteen juice is purple - because the indigestible exterior skin has been included. True, the exterior is full of antioxidants (produced to protect the fruit from environmental stresses), but should we really be eating it?