Fruit and vegetables offer superb health benefits, each one contains its own set of vitamins, minerals and nutrients. To get the maximum health benefits, we recommend eating a variety of fruits and vegetables, check out the excellent 5 A Day website for details of portion sizes, some yummy recipes and a whole range of nutritional advice.
Just in case you need any convincing that a fruit snack is better for you than a ‘sweet’ snack click on the link to see the difference in number of calories.
Then you may be ready to swap that chocolate snack with 200 calories for an apple with 53 or a pear with 68 or an orange with 59
The supercharged Power Snack
Eating just one banana gives you a lasting boost of energy, that’s why it is the number one choice for athletes; eating just one banana provides enough energy to complete a 60 minute workout and can also help prevent a number of serious illnesses.
Blood Pressure – Bananas are high in potassium and low in salt, helping to reduce the risk of blood pressure and stroke
Heartburn - Bananas have a natural antacid effect on the body, so if you suffer from heartburn, try eating a banana.... so much more pleasant than a spoonful of ‘chalky’ medicine!
Ulcers - The banana is used as the dietary food against intestinal disorders because of its soft texture and smoothness. It is the only raw fruit that can be eaten without distress in over-chronicler cases. It also neutralizes over-acidity and reduces irritation by coating the lining of the stomach.
Strokes - According to research in "The New England Journal of Medicine" eating bananas as part of a regular diet can cut the risk of death by strokes by as much as 40%!
Stress & Nerves – Stress causes the body’s metabolic rate to rise, which, in turn, reduces potassium levels. Potassium is the vital mineral which helps to regulate your heartbeat and send oxygen to your brain .... Imagine the ‘dip’ you feel mid afternoon .... that’s your potassium levels dropping, redress the balance with just one banana.
Bananas also contain the mood enhancing tryptophan, which is very good if you suffer from seasonal affective disorder.
Now ‘officially’ classed as one of the top 20 super foods, because of their antioxidant rich qualities.
Sweet & Juicy,or tart and crispy, easy to eat but that’s not all...
Apples provide a brilliant source of both soluble and insoluble fibre, in fact 80% of the fibre in an apple is insoluble and it is this which is instrumental in reducing cholesterol.
It is a better known fact that Apples contain high levels of pectin, this helps to reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes, as well as lowering blood pressure, which, in turn reduces the risk of stroke.
A Recent study in America showed that phytochemicals, found in the skin of an Apple slowed down the reproduction of colon cancer cells by almost 45% and the peel also protects the liver from cancerous cells.
Of course, Apples are good for dental hygiene too, containing tannins that prevent some of the bacteria that cause tooth decay, those same tannins can also help in the prevention of urinary tract infections.
One orange contains roughly 2/3 of the recommended daily intake of Vitamin C
Oranges are acid, which makes them an excellent form of ‘detox’ and, interestingly, the calcium in Orange Juice is better absorbed that the calcium in Milk.
Then there’s the..... ‘easy peelers’
Clementine – a seedless mandarin
Minneolas – a cross between a tangerine and a grapefruit
Tangerine – ‘Citrusy’ orange mandarin
Pears provide a very good source of fibre and are also a good source of vitamin B2, C, E, copper, and potassium.
Pears are actually higher in pectin than apples. This makes them effective in helping to lower cholesterol levels and in toning the intestines. They are often recommended by health care practitioners as a ‘hypoallergenic’ fruit that is high in fibre.
