Healthy Living: Picking the perfect peach

A peach that is fragrant and heavy for its size, has smooth skin and rich color, and gives under gentle pressure will be a juicy, sweet, delectable experience.
To pick the best fruits and vegetables possible, you must fully engage your senses.
Fruit should be heavy
Weight indicates how much water is in the fruit or how juicy it is. When choosing apples, oranges, peaches and the like, gently toss the fruit and catch it in one hand. As for melons, use two hands to feel for weight.
Vegetables should be firm
Always check that your broccoli, carrots, snap peas, snow peas and green beans are rigid and not bendy. If they flex easily, they are not fresh, and you should select something else to put in your basket. Likewise, greens such as chard, collards and kale should be springy, not droopy or limp.
Follow the fragrance
Fragrance is a very good indicator of flavor when choosing melons, tomatoes, peaches, and pineapples. Close your eyes, put your nose right up to the fruit and inhale. It should emit an aroma consistent with how you would expect it to taste. If you can’t smell it, chances are the fruit will be lacking flavor.
Press to test for ripeness
Gently apply pressure near the stem of avocados and melons or on the side of peaches and figs. When the fruit gives slightly under the pressure of your thumb, it is ripe and ready to enjoy. If it is too soft, it may be overripe. If it is too firm, let the fruit sit out on your counter and test it again tomorrow or the next day.
Listen to melons
Hold a watermelon in one arm and thump it with the pads of your fingers (like a drum) to listen for crispness. The sound you are seeking is a higher-pitched, clear “bap!” — not a dull thud or hollow sound. Melons such as honeydew, with seeds in the middle, will sometimes make a sloshing sound when you shake them near your ear. This indicates a very juicy melon that is ready to eat.
Eat with seasons
Buying fruits and vegetables that are in season and locally grown will almost always lead you to the least expensive and freshest produce in the market.
Fruits and vegetables are an essential part of any diet that successfully promotes weight loss, health and longevity, so fine-tune your skills and learn to choose the best.
Next time you are at the supermarket or farmers market, make it a complete sensory experience. With a little practice, you will become an expert at choosing the tastiest, freshest produce.
Julia Blanton is a nutrition, fitness and wellness coach. An avid runner, she works at Club One in Scotts Valley and keeps a health blog at www.juliablanton.com.