Peaches Nutrition Facts

Although its botanical name Prunus persica suggests the peach is native to Persia, it actually originated in China where it has been cultivated since the early days of Chinese culture. Peaches were mentioned in Chinese writings as far back as the tenth century BC and were a favored fruit of emperors.

Its English name derives from the Latin plural of Persicum malum, meaning "Persian apple". In Middle English, it melded into peche, much closer to what we call it today.

The Persians brought the peach from China and passed it on to the Romans. Spanish explorers brought peaches to North America in the 1500s.

A medium-size peach contains an impressive 2 grams of dietary fiber, 470 IU of beta-carotene (almost 10 percent of the RDA), and let's not forget, a succulent sweet taste. Peaches are also a good source of vitamin B3 (niacin) and potassium, and a very good source of vitamin C.

Like most fruits, peaches are a negative calorie food, which are essentially foods that actually contain less calories than it takes to digest them. For instance, you may eat a piece of fruit that contains 60 calories, but your body uses 75 calories to digest the fruit. You have essentially just burned 15 calories by eating. Eating negative calorie foods will typically not cause weight gain, but can in fact cause weight loss. Because of this, when you eat negative calorie foods, you can eat larger portions more often, which can in turn speed up your metabolism. A faster metabolism also influences weight loss.