The Top Five Healing Fruits And Vegetables

Of course I don't need to tell you that fresh fruits and vegetables play a vital role in healthy eating habits. At the very minimum, you should eat five servings of produce each day. Seven is even better, and nine is really great.

The reason fruits and vegetables are so important is that they are packed with micronutrients that help your body to support specific systems.

Fruit

They are also a great source of fiber. Plus fruits and vegetables are your best source of carbohydrates. Your body needs carbohydrates to produce energy. The carbs you get from produce are easier to digest than those you get from grains. (Carbs in grains are denser and "sticky," which makes them hard for your body to use.)

Here are five recommendations for the types of fruits and vegetables you should reach for most often. These will help your body fight disease, they'll lower your levels of inflammation, and they'll generally improve your health.

Berries

Brightly-colored berries like cranberries and blueberries are packed with antioxidants that help your body to fight disease and lower inflammation. In fact, when it comes to antioxidants, berries deliver the most of any fruit or vegetable.

Research shows that compounds in blueberries help your brain to stay healthy. 1 As you age inflammation and oxidation take a toll on your brain, even if it is disease-free. Your motor skills, cognitive function, and memory may all suffer. However, blueberries can make a difference. The polyphenols in blueberries help protect against diseases like Alzheimer's, they prevent age-related declines in function, and they may even help the brain to work better by enhancing its neuronal communication.

Other studies suggest that cranberries and blueberries both may protect against certain cancers, against heart disease, and against stroke. 2

In addition to all this, berries are rich in soluble fiber, which can improve your digestion and help to lower cholesterol levels.

Cherries

Cherries are rich in the antioxidant compound, anthocyanin. This compound may help relieve the pain and inflammation associated with arthritis. In animal studies, researchers found that anthocyanin significantly improved the symptoms of arthritis. 3

In addition to anthocyanin, cherries contain a broad spectrum of flavanoids and phytochemicals-these are micronutrients that work as very specific antioxidants in your body. Together they can make a positive difference to your health at the cellular level.

Cruciferous Vegetables

Vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower and asparagus are rich in a compound called diindolylmethane, or DIM for short. DIM converts into indole-3-carbinol in your body. This compound helps to remove aggressive estrogen from your system. It also helps prevent new aggressive estrogens from being absorbed into the body.

This does your body two favors. First, it helps to bring your hormones into better balance. Second, aggressive estrogens are associated with breast and prostate cancers, so cruciferous vegetables help protect you from these deadly diseases.

Tomatoes

These tasty, versatile vegetables (or fruits, depending on who you ask) are rich in lycopene. Lycopene may reduce your risk of a number of cancers including colon, breast, prostate, and skin cancer.

Tomatoes are also a good source of vitamin C, an antioxidant that serves many purposes in your body. It boosts the immune system, improves the health of your skin, and fights against many cancers.

Nuts

Okay, nuts aren't technically a fruit or a vegetable, but they do grow on trees, so I'm making an exception. Nuts are a rich source of minerals. Brazil nuts, for example, are one of the best available sources of selenium. Nuts can also provide calcium, zinc, iron, copper, and manganese. In fact, a 100 gram serving of mixed nuts a day delivers your daily-recommended amounts of all these important minerals. 4

Food is your absolute best source of the many nutrients your body needs for optimum health. These five foods will give you a wide variety of micronutrients, antioxidants, and minerals-the building blocks for a healthy, disease-free body.

The Top Five Healing Fruits And Vegetables

Mark Rosenberg, MD
Institute For Healthy Aging

http://www.vitalmaxvitamins.com
http://www.vitalmaxvitamins.com/blog

1 Lau FC, et al. "Nutritional intervention in brain aging: reducing the effects of inflammation and oxidative stress," Subcell Biochem 2007; 42: 299-318

2 Neto CC. "Cranberry and blueberry: evidence for protective effects against cancer and vascular diseases," Mol Nutr Food Res 2007; 51(6): 652-54

3 He YH, et al. "Anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative effects of cherries on Freund's adjuvant-induced arthritis in rats," Scand J Rheumatol 2006; 35(5): 356-58

4 Malinowska E, Szefer P. "[Investigation of the contents of essential elements in nuts, almonds and dry fruits]" Rocz Panstw Zakl Hig 2007; 58(1): 339-43

The Importance Of Fruit And Vegetables

Everyone knows that fruit and vegetables are important, as essential building blocks of any diet. Not only are they loaded with vitamins and minerals which are essential for healthy living, but they also help fill you up, as part of a balanced diet. By increasing your intake of fruit and vegetables, you will benefit your health no end, and will boost your immune system, as well as building resistance to common illnesses and infections. Furthermore, fruit and vegetables can leave you looking better and feeling great, as part of a healthy diet, which can be an all round improvement for your well-being.

Experts suggest that we should all consumer five portions of fruit and vegetables every day. This may sound initially like a large proportion of your daily overall intake, although it is essential that you strive to meet this target most days, for the benefit of your physical and mental health. Additionally, by filling out meals and increasing satisfaction at meal times. On top of that, the natural goodness contained within these ultimate healthy foods will provide the necessary energy to fuel you through the day, and give you the drive and determination to progress through a course of exercise to improve overall fitness.

Fruit

Fruit can act as a substitute for sugary snacks, which otherwise deplete energy and lead to numerous other health problems. The natural sugar contained within fruits is essential for the effective maintenance of the immune system and the body's natural defense mechanisms. As well as increasing fruits within the diet as a healthy snacking alternative, it is also a good idea to make more use of vegetables in every meal. Vegetables should account for a substantial proportion of each meal, to ultimately improve your diet, and by ensuring a substantial increase in the role they play within your diet, you should end up seeing the benefits in your skin, hair, and general health.

By increasing your intake of fruit and vegetables as part of a healthy balanced diet, you can really benefit from the healthy nutrients and minerals these foods contain. In addition to this, fruit and vegetable intake can leave you feeling physically better and more alert, increasing attention span and reducing tiredness.

Why not try introducing more vegetables and fruit into your diet today, by doing a straight swap of fruit for sugary snacks, and introducing vegetables to boost any meal, as part of a nutritious and healthy balanced meal.

The Importance Of Fruit And Vegetables

Jonathon Hardcastle writes articles on many topics including Cooking [http://cookingforfun.net/], Health [http://allaboutourhealth.net/], and Nutrition [http://inutritioncentral.com/].

Fruit and Vegetables In Season January - February

With Winter in full swing it's probably more important that at this time of year we all make sure we get our recommended five portions of fruit and vegetables per day to ensure we stay fit and healthy. Below I've listed some of the better choices available to you;

Rhubarb

Fruit

Although used in sweet dishes, rhubarb is actually a vegetable. It tastes great either stewed or in comforting crumbles. To stew it, wash the sticks, cut them into pieces around 7.5cm long, place in a pan with a little sugar and a dash of water and cook on a low heat. You'll find all the rhubarb in store at this time of year is grown in the so-called 'rhubarb triangle' between Leeds, Bradford and Wakefield. It's called 'forced' rhubarb because it's grown in darkness which encourages the sticks to grow while the leaves stay small and yellow. It's then picked by candlelight to preserve the quality of the crop. Forced rhubarb is sweeter than summer rhubarb and is also a good source of vitamin C, potassium and fibre.

Butternut Squash

Rich in complex carbohydrates, low in fat and a great source of essential vitamins and minerals, butternut squash acquires a lovely nutty flavour when roasted or baked. It's also a great ingredient for warming soups and casseroles. Cut it open and remove the seeds and fibre before cooking and peel it if necessary. For a winter warmer recipe for Thai butternut squash curry, see the recipe section.

Bramley Apples

Apple crumble and apple pie are the UK's favourite desserts [http://www.ceramic-knife-sharpener.com], which is why the UK is the only country in the world to grow apples especially for cooking. Nearly 95 per cent of the cooking apples eaten in the UK are Bramley apples. They were originally cultivated by Matthew Bramley who found this special fruit in his Nottinghamshire garden in 1846. Bramley apples are full of essential vitamins and minerals and a good source of dietary fibre and vitamin C.

Grapefruit

To stay healthy, we should all aim to eat five portions of fruit and vegetables every day. At this time of year, that isn't always easy but some types of fruit are at their very best during the winter months. Grapefruit is one of these fruits and it provides many nutrients, such as vitamin C, that we need during the dark, cold days.

There are several varieties of grapefruit, each with a different coloured flesh. The pink varieties tend to be sweeter than the slightly astringent white grapefruit which may need a little sugar to make it palatable. Try it for breakfast, lightly sprinkle the surface with sugar then fork the top of the fruit to mix the grapefruit juice and sugar together. With a small bladed cutting utensil cut through the segments to make it easier to remove from the skin and eat.

For a delicious salad, mix grapefruit segments with some green salad leaves and avocado. It's also good with prawns, shrimps or other seafood.

Seville Oranges

Seville [http://www.ceramic-knife-sharpener.com] oranges are known as 'bitter oranges' because their sour taste makes them inedible without cooking. However, because of their high pectin content, they are great for making marmalade. Seville oranges give marmalade its distinctive, bitter-sweet taste, and it's called thick cut' or 'thin cut' depending on how thickly the peel is sliced.

Remember boys and girls; eat your fruit and vegetables and you'll grow up to be big and strong.

Fruit and Vegetables In Season January - February

I try to pass on my musings on life and experiences in a way that people may find interesting to read.

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You may not always agree with my writings but I hope to inform.

Harwood E Woodpecker