There’s a reason you need a napkin when you bite into a ripe summer peach — the fruit is nearly 90 percent water.
In addition to helping you stay hydrated, peaches contain nutrients that keep your eyes healthy and may reduce chronic disease risk. Here are some of their biggest benefits, plus some recipes from New York Times Cooking.
Their potassium is helpful on summer days.
Getting fluids from fruit and other food sources is just as good as drinking a glass of water, said Diane Stadler, the director of the graduate programs in human nutrition at Oregon Health & Science University. In addition to their high water content, peaches contain a modest dose of the electrolyte potassium, which you sweat out during exercise and on hot days, she said. Electrolytes like potassium help your muscles contract, your heart pump and your neurons fire.
One small peach contains around 180 milligrams of potassium, which is about five percent of the recommended daily amount. (By comparison, one Nuun electrolyte tablet contains 125 milligrams.)
They’re rich in flavonoids and carotenoids.
“Peaches combine two groups of pigments that you don’t often see together in other fruits and vegetables,” said Mary Ann Lila, a distinguished professor in the Plants for Human Health Institute at North Carolina State University. Their signature sunset colors come from flavonoids and carotenoids — chemicals plants produce as a defense mechanism against insects and the harmful effects of sunlight.