I’ve heard health experts complain that Americans eat the same five or six
fruits their entire lives. I’ve seen similar eating habits with my clients, and
I do think that everyone could benefit from a wider variety of fruity foods
in their diets. Fruits are defined as the ripened reproductive body of a seed
plant, which means that any plant you eat that contains seeds is a fruit.
Officially, this means that tomatoes, eggplants, and cucumbers are fruit. That
scientific fact doesn’t matter much to me — I just want to encourage people
to eat more fruits and vegetables, period.
Eating fresh fruit regularly has been shown to reduce the risk of developing
diabetes, heart disease, Alzheimer’s, and certain cancers. Fruits also fortify
the body with the nutrients it needs to fight infection and repair cells.
Fruits are generally easier for people to increase in their diet than vegetables
because they’re sweet, they don’t need a lot of preparation, and you can take
them to school or work as a quick, healthy snack. So which fruits are most
beneficial to your health? Well, it’s difficult to pick a few specific superfruits,
but here’s a list of fruit-related tips to keep in mind:
✓ Try to eat two to three pieces of fresh fruit every day. An easy way to
do this is to make a smoothie for breakfast. You can include a banana
and two other fruits as the base and kick-start your day quickly.
✓ Choose some of these super fruits for your daily menus:
• Berries, including blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, and
strawberries, are high in vitamin C, folate, and phytochemicals.
• Pomegranate seeds are very high in antioxidants, and the juice is
used to help inflammatory conditions.
• Acai berries also are high in antioxidants and are a good source
of essential oils. They’re believed to help the body slow the aging
process as well.
✓ Buy seasonal fruit from your farmer’s market. Not only is the fruit
super fresh and at its optimum taste, but it also has more nutrients.
✓ If you drink fruit juice, try to drink fresh-squeezed, unsweetened juice.
Investing in a juicer gives you the option of drinking many servings of
fruit in one glass.
✓ Fresh fruits are best, but frozen fruit and berries are good, too.
Canned fruit is a very distant third choice.
✓ If you consume tropical fruits and their products, such as acai berries,
mangosteen, noni juice, and goji berries or goji juice, make sure
they’re naturally sweetened. These products have been in the news
lately because of their purported anti-cancer and weight-loss action