How Goya Your Christmas

Goya is Okinawa’s very popular, but very bitter vegetable and a significant ingredient in the Okinawan cuisine. It’s popularly is credited with Okinawan life expectancies being higher than the already long Japanese ones.

Goya has always traveled with claims of ‘healthy’ and ‘promotes longevity’, but now many advocates are saying the cucumber-like melon is good for nearly whatever ails you. It is being used in processed foods, mixed in salads and champura dishes, and is now finding a niche in new food products.

The goya is stated as having three times more vitamin C than lemon fruits, and five times as much as the tomato, and it protects against heat. Advocates claim it even battles fat, providing nutrition while keeping fat from forming. Medical researchers are also discovering the goya reduces blood sugar levels, a boon for diabetics and works in lowering high blood pressure.

Goya’s are expanding to new products such as goya chips, which are not quite so bitter and have a good taste. It's used in the process of making beer as a substitution of the hops. It is even mixed with chocolate as these taste goya sweets are available in many Okinawan supermarkets.