Cactus/ Nopal Natural Healthy Food

Cactus ,Nopal, No Chemicals , No Pesticides, 100% Natural

Cacti have gotten a pretty bad wrap over the years...what, with deserts, tumbleweeds, and needles that makeyour yearly flu shot feel like some gentle acupuncture. But don't back away—the prickly food is actually one of the healthiest foods you can eat!Packed with vitamins and nutrients, cacti help reduce cholesterol, prevent diabetes, and fill you up (not out!) with fiber. Plus, their high phytonutrient content can actually combat cancer.

Don't live in the Wild West? No problem. Cacti are making their way throughout farmers markets and organic stores like Whole Foods and Fairway all over the country. Most stores will have them sliced and diced for you (supermarkets don't want you pricking your finger in aisle 5, now do they?). If you opt to buy them in juice or jam form (so yummy!), check the label for additives. Cacti, like pretty much all foods, are at their best when in their pure, all-natural form.

Serve up these cactus super foods for a healthy change:

Nopales This light green-bean-like vegetable can be grilled or boiled and added to eggs, soups, chilies, or fillings in tortillas. Nopales are rich in vitamins a, c, k, riboflavin, and b6, and loaded with minerals such as magnesium, potassium, iron, and calcium. Try nopales, price varies with season, farmers markets

Also know as Opuntia
Opuntia, also known as nopales or paddle cactus (see below), is a genus in the cactus family, Cactaceae. Currently, only prickly pears are included in this genus of about 200[1] species distributed throughout most of the Americas. Chollas are now separated into the genus Cylindropuntia, which some still consider a subgenus of Opuntia. Austrocylindropuntia, Corynopuntia, and Micropuntia are also often included in the present genus, but like Cylindropuntia, they seem rather distinct. Brasiliopuntia and Miqueliopuntia are closer relatives of Opuntia.

The most common culinary species is the Indian fig opuntia (O. ficus-indica). Most culinary uses of the term "prickly pear" refer to this species. Prickly pears are also known as tuna (fruit) or nopal (paddle, plural nopales) from the Nahuatl word nōpalli for the pads, or nostle, from the Nahuatl word nōchtli for the fruit; or paddle cactus.

The genus is named for the Ancient Greek city of Opus, where, according to Theosophists, an edible plant grew which could be propagated by rooting its leaves.[2]