The fruit is nature’s candy. Have you heard anyone encourage anyone, especially kids, to eat fruits generously but stay away from candy? Staying away from candy is excellent advice because candies contain a lot of sugars. Many people encourage us to eat fruit freely because they believe that fruits come from natural and healthy nature. Let’s look at the benefits of eating fruits for you.
The fruit is a sweet and fleshy product of a tree. It is a beautiful and healthy food. The fruit today is no ordinary fruit. It is mega fruit or super fruit. Today’s fruit is truly a candy.
As a dietitian, I would recommend fruit over candy because it has vitamins and minerals built right in, and the candy is a source of empty calories. People eating more fruits and vegetables as part of a healthy diet are likely to have a reduced risk of some chronic diseases.
Benefits Of Eating Fruits
Let’s understand the nutritional values and varied fruits benefits. Fruits provide vital nutrients for the health and maintenance of your body.
1. Healthy Gut
Fruits are excellent sources of essential nutrients.; they provide vitamins and minerals to the body. They are high in fiber that helps maintain a healthy gut and prevent constipation and other digestion problems. A fiber-rich diet can also reduce your risk of bowel cancer.
2. Lowers Cholesterol
Cholesterol is a big deadly problem in today’s people. To tackle it, fruits are the best healthy option for your body. Fruits contain fiber that can help lower your cholesterol. Fruits like apples, pears, guava, oranges contain high amounts of fiber.
3. Aids Weight Loss
Eating fruits daily helps in a healthy weight loss process. Fruits are high in essential nutrients and relatively low in calories, making them an excellent choice to lose weight. They are high in water and fiber content, which help you feel full and prevent overeating.
4. Eating Fruits Makes You Beautiful
Vitamin C is a super antioxidant. It enhances the immune system and promotes radiant skin. Vitamin C is needed to produce collagen that strengthens the capillaries that supply the skin. Antioxidants help protect the skin against ultraviolet (UV) radiation. Be sure to eat fruit that is deeply colored, which will be full of antioxidants. The best vitamin C sources are blueberries, oranges, blackcurrants, tomatoes, guava, kiwi fruit, papaya, and strawberries.
5. Role Of Fruits In Weaning Babies
Pureed fruits and vegetables are ideal first weaning foods for your baby. Studies suggest introducing various pureed fruits and vegetables, as your baby will already have a sweet palate from drinking breast milk or formula. It will help them learn to accept savory and more bitter tastes and the sweet and sour combinations of fruit. Pureed fruits can be easily digestible to babies. You can start with a few spoonfuls (or a couple of bites) once a day for a week. It will help you gauge whether your baby wants more or less.
Other Benefits Of Eating Fruits
- Fruits like banana, mango, guava, cantaloupe, sweet lime contain lots of potassium.
- Potassium helps maintain healthy blood pressure and regulate fluid balance in the body.
- Fruits like oranges, strawberries, guava, amla contain incredible amounts of vitamin C, which keeps teeth and gums healthy. Vitamin C also supports the immune system.
- Tropical fruits such as mango, kiwi, pomegranate, oranges are high in folate. This folate helps the body produce red blood cells; folate also supports healthy fetal development.
- Strawberries, black plums, prunes, blackberries, blueberries, cherries are examples of fruits rich in antioxidants. Antioxidants control free radicals production. They protect your skin and fight off illness.
- Most fruits are naturally low in fat, sodium, and calories. None have cholesterol.
Fruits Vs. Fruit Juices
Fruit juice is not healthier than whole fruit, even if the juice is freshly squeezed. The main reason is that the fruit’s pulp and skin are left behind while making juice, which is high in dietary fiber. Fiber plays a vital role in regulating bowel movements, and it binds to natural sugar in the fruit. This binding helps in the slow digestion of sugar. Whereas, if we consume fruit juice, blood sugar spikes due to quick absorption of sugar.
Besides, you need a considerable amount of fruit for juicing – one glass of juice has more sugar than a single piece of the whole fruit. A cup of juice doesn’t hit the hunger spot like munching on a fruit does.
Fruits For Snacks
Try to include fruits in your daily diet plan. Here are some of the fruit-based snack options.
- Mixed fruit chat
- Fruit custard
- Sprouts and fruit salad
- Fruit sandwich
- Fruit popsicles
- Banana pancakes
- Fruit cakes
- Fruit milkshakes
- Smoothies
- Fruit with yogurt
- Apple wedges with peanut or almond butter
- Fruit bowl with added seeds and nuts
- Steamed fruits
- Fruit jelly
- Oatmeal with fruits
