Makes approximately two dozen cookies Canola oil spray¾ cup unbleached flour¼ tsp. salt¼ tsp. baking soda½ tsp. cinnamon¼ tsp. all spice1 cup quick-cooking old fashioned rolled oats½ cup raisins¼ cup chopped walnuts 1 large egg white 3 tbsp. butter, cut in pieces½ cup (packed) brown sugar1 Del Monte® banana, cut in pieces1 tsp. vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 400° degrees. Coat two baking pans or cookie sheets with oil spray. Whisk together flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, and allspice. Mix in oats, raisins, and nuts. In a blender mix egg white, butter, and sugar until smooth. Blend in banana and vanilla until mixture is smooth. Pour banana mixture into bowl with dry ingredients, mixing until well combined. Drop batter by spoonfuls onto prepared baking sheets, spacing cookies at least 2 inches apart. Flatten them slightly with the back of a wet spoon. Bake 10 minutes with one pan on the top rack and one on a lower rack. Switch position of pans in oven. Bake an additional 5 to 8 minutes.
9:30 AM
Monday, March 2, 2009
Banana Orange Freeze
½ cup orange juice ½ cup skim milk 1 Del Monte® banana1 cup orange sherbet
In a blender mix orange juice, skim milk, banana, and orange sherbet until smooth.
Nutritional information per serving: calories 207, total fat: 2g, saturated fat: 1g, calories from fat: 17; protein: 4g, carbohydrates: 45g, cholesterol: 2mg, dietary fiber: 3g, sugar: 28g, sodium:61mg
This food is low in Sodium, and very low in Cholesterol. It is also a very good source of Vitamin C.
8:57 PM
Monday, October 20, 2008
Nutrient Information Fruits and vegetables are sources of many vitamins, minerals and other natural substances that may help protect you from chronic diseases. Some of these nutrients may also be found in other foods. Eating a balanced diet and making other lifestyle changes are key to maintaining your body's good health.
Fiber Diets rich in dietary fiber have been shown to have a number of beneficial effects including decreased risk of coronary artery disease. Excellent vegetable sources: navy beans, kidney beans, black beans, pinto beans, lima beans, white beans, soybeans, split peas, chick peas, black eyed peas, lentils, artichokes
Folate* Healthful diets with adequate folate may reduce a woman's risk of having a child with a brain or spinal cord defect. Excellent vegetable sources: black eyed peas, cooked spinach, great northern beans, asparagus
Potassium Diets rich in potassium may help to maintain a healthy blood pressure. Good fruit and vegetable sources: sweet potatoes, tomato paste, tomato puree, beet greens, white potatoes, white beans, lima beans, cooked greens, carrot juice, prune juice
Vitamin A Vitamin A keeps eyes and skin healthy and helps to protect against infections. Excellent fruit and vegetable sources: sweet potatoes, pumpkin, carrots, spinach, turnip greens, mustard greens, kale, collard greens, winter squash, cantaloupe, red peppers, Chinese cabbage
Vitamin C Vitamin C helps heal cuts and wounds and keep teeth and gums healthy. Excellent fruit and vegetable sources: red and green peppers, kiwi, strawberries, sweet potatoes, kale, cantaloupe, broccoli, pineapple, Brussels sprouts, oranges, mangoes, tomato juice, cauliflower
Good sources: These foods contain 10 to 19 percent of the Daily Value per reference amount.
Excellent sources These foods contain 20 percent or more of the Daily Value per reference amount.
*The Institute of Medicine recommends that women of child bearing age who may become pregnant consume 400 micrograms of synthetic folic acid per day to supplement the folate they receive from a varied diet. Synthetic folic acid can be obtained from eating fortified foods or taking a supplement.
10:04 PM
Monday, August 18, 2008
Eat (more) fruit These ideas might stimulate your fruit consumption! Why should we have five to nine fresh pieces a day, organically grown if possible? For the largest part fruit consists of water just like the human body does; Fruit is 100% bad-cholesterol free; Fruit stimulates the memory; The idea that fruit is an expensive nutrition; The miraculous healing effects of fruit;
Fibers; Fruit makes you feel better; Ethical reasons to eat fruit; Fruit is the most natural food; The human diet; Fruit juices - squeeze those fruits! For the largest part fruit consists of water just like the human body does Like 80% of our body is water so does 80% of fruit consist of water! If you think about it, it's logical for the human body to consume food that contains as much water as the body itself. The nutrition that meets that requirement is fruit. There is no other food than fruit on this planet that contains on average 80% water. Vegetables also contain a lot of water and are therefore second best.
Fruit is 100% bad-cholesterol free No doubt about this argument. Too much bad-cholesterol is not good for our bodies and fruit doesn't contain bad-cholesterol. Animal products like meat and dairy contain a lot of bad-cholesterol.
Fruit stimulates the memory If you didn’t know yet: fruit is the ultimate brain fuel. Fruit has a positive effect on our brains. The way this works still has to be found out and many scientists are looking into it as we speak. What we do know is that if you consume fruit effectively, your brains can recall information faster and more easily. This is very useful information for people who are preparing for an exam. Students that want to go to this page immediately go to: improve your exam results with fruit.
The idea that fruit is an expensive nutrition Did you always think that fruit was an expensive product? Take a good look at how much money you spend on other food. It could be worth something to replace some of those expenses with fruit. We think that fruit is the healthiest food on earth and therefore it is well worth spending our money on.
The miraculous healing effects of fruit Spectacular stories about people that cured from uncurable diseases by a strict diet of raw fruits and/or vegetables are well known but do we want to believe them? We still don't know that much about fruit and its contents.
Fibers We do know now that a diet with plenty of fibers helps against corpulence, high blood pressure, and other factors that increase the chance for a heart disease. The consumed amount of fibers maybe even a more important factor than the amount of fat that is consumed by people! The food that contains these healthy (natural) fibers is.... right: fruit! (vegetables as well). The American Heart Association advises to consume 25 to 30 grams of fibers out of fresh fruits and/or vegetables. In practice this means: have five to nine portions of fresh fruits or vegetables a day. Check out the dietary Recommendations of the American Heart Association here.
Fruit makes you feel better Several stories have told us about people that were frequently depressed and how they got out of their depression slowly but surely after consuming substantial amounts of fresh fruit on a regular basis. Eating much fruit can have a mysterious healing effect on human beings. Even better is to drink a lot of freshly squeezed fruit drinks on a regular basis. It will take approximately 30 days until you start to notice the effects. Don't forget to drink these smoothies 20 minutes before the consumption of other meals. This way the fruit will not ferment in the stomach and the nutritious elements can be absorbed by the blood effectively.
Ethical reasons to eat fruit Fruit doesn't have to be killed and slaughtered before you can eat it. The fruits are just hanging there waiting to be picked by you! This ethical argument (often used by vegetarians and vegans to not eat meat) claims that fruit is a non-animal food. Many people see animals, especially mammals, as living creatures just like humans. There are religions that say that animals have souls like us. The native Americans first asked the animal's spirit if they could kill it before they did so. Fruit has never been said to have a soul and thus can be eaten without causing any harm. Ethical or religious arguments aside, we think it's a shame that we as human beings don't eat much fruit when there is such an abundant assortment of fruits and vegetables available.
Fruit is the most natural food When you see a piece of fruit hanging from a tree that tree is telling you something: "Eat my fruits and help me spread my seeds." That’s how nature works. Humans eat vegetables and fruits and consequently help the plants to spread. Humans use animals to work the land to grow the plants and trees that produce these fruits and vegetables. In more and more people's opinion this is the way it was all meant to be.
A human diet A healthy diet should consist for a great deal of freshly squeezed fruit juices, raw fruits and vegetables. Some tips:
A good start is to eat and drink more fresh fruits; it’s as simple as that. Before you know it you will feel much better; Don't forget to eat fruit on an empty stomach, not after other meals and; inform yourself about the substances that our 'modern' food contains.
FRUIT JUICE Fruit juices, go squeeze! Fruit juices taste the best. Read further about how fruit juices can change your life!
Tips
Squeeze at least one fruit drink a day. In this way you eat about 3 to 4 fruits so you can fulfill your daily need
Put some ice cubes in the blender with your juice. This cools your fruit drink quickly in summer
Put a little bit of banana in your juice mix and blend it like a milk-shake. This gives your fruit drink a certain softness and reduces the bitterness (caused by grapefruits for example)
Take sweet fruits to blend. Use citrus fruits (oranges, red-grapefruits) as a basis and mix it in the blender with the sweet fruits of your choice. You can squeeze a jar of orange juice that you keep in the fridge and blend it with the fruit of your choice when you want to.
Squeeze five to nine pieces of fruit a day!
4:49 PM
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Eat different colours and types of fruit and veg
We all know we should eat at least five portions of fruit and veg every day. But do you know exactly what the benefits are, what constitutes a portion, or that eating different types and colours is almost as important as getting enough in the first place?
Eating a variety of five fruit and vegetables a day could reduce deaths from heart disease, stroke and cancer by up to 20 per cent, according to the NHS Plan, a Department of Health document published in 2000.
Not only that, fruit and veg can stop you piling on the pounds. They’re low in fat and packed with fibre. And because fibre fills you up, you’re less likely to succumb to unhealthy calorie-laden snacks.
The bad news is that most of us aren’t getting enough. According to the National Diet and Nutrition Survey, only 13 per cent of men and 15 per cent of women regularly achieve five a day with average intake below three.
It can sometimes be difficult to squeeze in all five portions. But you can also use tinned, frozen and packaged fruit and veg as well as fresh to get your quota. They can be just as nutritious as fresh and using the GDA labels you can see exactly what they are providing you with.
Here’s why you should add colour to your dinner plate, plus five days of simple, delicious, nutrition-packed meals. Luckily you don’t need to be a Masterchef to get enough.
Red
What to eat: Strawberries, cranberries, red apples, red onions, tomatoes, pink grapefruit, watermelon, pomegranates.
Good for: Protecting against heart disease, cancer and urinary infections.
Red foods are among the richest sources of antioxidants called flavonols, which may protect against heart disease. Tomatoes, watermelon and pink grapefruit are also important providers of lycopene – a pigment in plants thought to reduce the risk of prostate cancer, according to a report by the World Cancer Research Fund.
Cooking or processing tomatoes is even better as it increases the amount of lycopene you absorb, so include tinned, pureed and cooked versions as well as raw.
Cranberries contain proanthocyanidins – plant chemicals that may help prevent infections of the urinary tract by stopping harmful bacteria such as E.coli sticking to the bladder walls.
Smart ways to get more: Toss red grapes into your salad, use tomato puree in sauces or have a daily glass of cranberry juice – if you're concerned about your sugar or calorie levels check the GDA label.
Green
What to eat: Kale, spinach, watercress, cabbage, broccoli, asparagus, green peppers, peas, kiwi fruits, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower. Sweetcorn also fits in this group, even though you eat the yellow kernels, not the green husk.
Good for: A strong immune system, healthy eyes and skin, plus protection against cancer and heart disease.
Kale, spinach, peas and sweetcorn are rich sources of lutein – a pigment in the eye that filters out damaging UV rays. A study at Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary found a high intake of spinach or collard greens (similar to kale) was associated with a substantially reduced risk of age-related blindness.
Filling up on greens, including kiwi fruit, will also give you plenty of immune-boosting vitamin C, also necessary for great skin, and folate – a B vitamin that protects against birth defects.
Green vegetables such as cabbage, broccoli, kale, sprouts and watercress contain glucosinolates, thought to protect against cancer by encouraging the self-destruction of pre-cancerous cells.
Smart ways to get more: Try tinned sweetcorn on pizzas, asparagus wrapped in ham and watercress or spinach soups. Compare packaged soups for added salt using the GDA label to make a healthy choice.
Orange & yellow
What to eat: Carrots, mangoes, butternut squash, sweet potatoes, papaya, oranges and peppers.
Good for: Cancer and heart disease prevention, healthy skin and immunity. Orange fruits and vegetables are typically rich in alpha and betacarotene, which can help bolster our body’s defences.
Foods high in these nutrients are thought to reduce the risk of various gut and lung cancers, according to the World Cancer Research Fund and American Institute for Cancer Research.
Betacarotene is also used by the body to make vitamin A, which is vital for eyes, skin and the health of mucous membranes in the nose and throat (so bacteria and viruses are less likely to penetrate). Orange citrus fruits are also a good source of vitamin C.
Smart ways to get more: Have a handful of chopped dried apricots with your breakfast cereal, use sliced carrots and peppers for a snack, serve baked sweet potatoes as a change from normal jacket potatoes. Drink orange juice with a meal.
Purple & Blue-black
What to eat: Blueberries, blackcurrants, blackberries, raisins, prunes, black grapes, raspberries, plums, black and purple grapes, aubergines, and cherries.
Good for: Anti-ageing benefits, healthy brain, defence against cancer and heart disease.
The colour purple signifies the presence of anthocyanins, which are powerful disease-fighting substances.
They can help keep skin healthy and could possibly have an anti-ageing effect in the brain, though this hasn’t been proven in humans.
In a study published in the Journal of Neuroscience, rats that ate an extract of blueberries, strawberries and spinach every day showed improvements in short-term memory.
The blueberry extract was associated with improved balance and coordination as well.
Smart ways to get more: Snack on raisins or grapes instead of sweets or chocolate, eat blueberries sprinkled over cereals or with ice cream, add sliced aubergine to stir-fries or tomato sauces.
White
What to eat: Onions, garlic, shallots, chives, leeks, bananas, cucumber, celery, fennel, mushrooms.
Good for: Lowering cholesterol, detoxing the body, preventing cancer, and keeping blood pressure healthy. Vegetables in the onion group contain sulphur compounds, which increase the activity of enzymes that remove toxic substances from the body. Sulphur compounds may also help to lower cholesterol and keep the arteries flexible, lowering risk of heart disease. White fruit and veg are also good sources of potassium, which regulates blood pressure.
Smart ways to get more: Make onion soup, bake onions as a veg side dish, add spring onions to salad and stir-fries. Spread celery sticks with peanut butter and have them as a snack. Chop a banana over your breakfast cereal.
What’s a portion?
* Fresh, frozen, chilled, canned, 100 per cent juice and smoothies all count, as do dried fruit and vegetables. Potatoes don’t count at all. Aim for as many colours and textures as possible and five different choices every day. For example, five bananas would still only count as one portion.
* Fruit and vegetables in convenience foods like ready meals, pasta sauces, soups and puddings, also contribute to your five a day. But check the nutritional information on the labels as you don’t want to undo the goodness with lots of sugar, fat or salt. Compare the Guideline Daily Amount (GDA) percentages on the packaging to select the healthiest brands. Around 80g of fruit or veg in a product counts as a portion.
* A portion of fruit is one medium apple or banana, two small satsumas or three dried apricots. You can only count a glass of 100 per cent fruit juice once a day, however many flavours you drink. Fibre is removed in processing so it’s not as nutritious as a piece of fruit. A portion of dried fruit is one tablespoon but stick to one a day as it’s high in sugar.
* One portion of vegetables is three heaped tablespoons of carrots, peas or sweetcorn, or a cereal bowl of mixed salad. Three heaped tablespoons of beans and other pulses such as lentils and chick peas also count as a portion, but only count them once a day, even if you eat all three. That’s because pulses don’t contain as many nutrients.
* For more info and recipes visit www.5aday.nhs.co.uk
5 ways to 5 + a day
DAY 1
* Breakfast Scrambled eggs with four tablespoons of grilled or stir-fried mushrooms (one portion).
* Snack One apple (one portion).
* Lunch Lean ham sandwich made with wholegrain bread and packed with salad leaves (1/2 portion), plus seven cherry tomatoes (one portion). One pot of fruit yoghurt and a small wholemeal fruit scone. Check the GDA label if fat content is an issue for you.
* Snack Small handful of unsalted nuts.
* Evening meal Bowl of carrot and coriander soup (one portion), pasta with chicken, tomato and basil bottled pasta sauce (one portion) and two broccoli spears (one portion), four heaped tablespoons of berries with natural yoghurt (one portion).
TOTAL: 7.5 portions
DAY 2
* Breakfast Bowl of high-fibre cereal with semi-skimmed milk and a chopped banana (one portion).
* Snack Three dried apricots (one portion).
* Lunch Beans on toast (one portion) with half an avocado sliced over (one portion). A low-fat fruit yoghurt.
* Snack Couple of plain biscuits.
* Evening meal Stir-fry with red and yellow peppers, aubergine, onions, cabbage, plus a handful of nuts and reduced salt soy sauce to taste (2.5 portions) served with brown rice. Apple and blackberry crumble (1/2 portion).
TOTAL: 7 portions
DAY 3
* Breakfast two slices of wholemeal toast with low-fat spread and yeast extract, orange juice (one portion).
* Snack Pot of low fat yoghurt.
* Lunch One cereal bowl of salad (one portion) with goat’s cheese, drizzle of oil and balsamic vinegar. Serve with grainy bread. Small pot of mandarins in juice (one portion).
* Snack Snack size chocolate bar.
* Evening meal Ready-meal vegetable curry with rice (one portion). Check the salt content on the GDA label. Baked apple stuffed with a tablespoon of raisins (two portions).
TOTAL: 6 portions
DAY 4
* Breakfast Poached egg, lean grilled back bacon, two canned plum tomatoes (one portion). Glass of skimmed milk.
* Snack Two kiwi fruit (one portion).
* Lunch Jacket potato with tuna, low-fat mayo and three heaped tablespoons of sweetcorn (one portion). Snack size chocolate bar.
* Snack Handful of nuts and raisins (1/2 portion).
* Evening meal Grilled salmon, new potatoes, three heaped tablespoons of carrots (one portion) and two heaped tablespoons of spinach (one portion). Two scoops vanilla ice cream.
TOTAL: 5.5 portions
DAY 5
* Breakfast Bowl of muesli with low-fat yoghurt and two handfuls of blueberries sprinkled over (one portion).
* Snack Small pack crisps. (A treat is fine now and again as long as you check the GDA label)
* Lunch Bowl of tomato soup (one portion) and a roll. Cereal bar, two big slices of mango (one portion).
* Snack Finger of cheddar cheese with two-inch piece of cucumber (one portion).
* Evening meal Lamb steak with chunky oven chips, three heaped tablespoons of peas and a leek (two portions).
TOTAL: 6 portions
11:56 PM
Monday, July 28, 2008
Healthy Fruit Salad Recipes!
Asian Fruit Salad with Papaya-Mint Sauce Reprinted from lycheesonline.com
1/2 large cantaloupe, peeled, seeded, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (about 2 cups) 1 medium papaya, peeled, seeded, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (about 1 cup) 1/2 large pineapple, peeled, cored, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (about 2 cups) 1 11-ounce can peeled whole lychees in heavy syrup, drained, halved lengthwise 1/2 cup seedless green grapes, halved 1/2 cup seedless red grapes, halved 1/4 cup sweetened shredded or flaked coconut, toasted Fresh mint sprigs
Mix first 6 ingredients in large bowl. (Can be made 4 hours ahead. Cover; chill.)
Papaya-Mint Sauce: 1 large papaya, peeled, seeded, coarsely chopped (about 1 1/2 cups) 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice 3 tablespoons fructose sugar 1 1/2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh mint
Puree all ingredients in processor until smooth. Transfer to bowl. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Keep refrigerated.)
To Serve: Spoon fruit into 6 small bowls or goblets. Drizzle Papaya-Mint Sauce over fruit. Sprinkle with coconut. Garnish with mint.
Lychee-Orange Salad Reprinted from lycheesonline.com
1 head of Boston or bibb lettuce, torn into bite-sized pieces 1/2 cup fresh or canned lychees 1 orange, peeled and cut into 1" pieces 1 Tbsp Lychee Vinegar 2 thin slices of red onion, separated into rings 2 Tbsp reduced-fat chicken broth 1 Tbsp orange juice 1 tsp olive oil
In a large bowl, combine the lettuce, oranges, lychees and onions. In a small bowl, whisk the broth, vinegar, juice and oil. Pour the dressing over the lettuce mixture, then toss gently until all ingredients are coated with dressing. Servings: 4
Fruit and Spinach Salad 1 large red delicious apple, cored & chopped 1 pkg. (10 oz.) washed fresh spinach, torn in bite-size pieces 4 green onions, sliced 1 med. pear, cored & chopped
Combine above ingredients & toss with a fruited fat-free vinaigrette dressing. 8 servings
http://www.recipezaar.com/recipes/salads,fruit
4:38 PM
Monday, July 21, 2008
All Fruits are Healthy
"Is There a Food Better Than Fruit?" by Frederic Patenaude
Fruits are such a delight to the senses. Of all the foods available to us, fruits are the most attractive, delicious and enjoyable. Of all natural foods, that is, the foods we can eat in their natural state, fruit is the food we are most attracted to and that first entices our senses. Humans are born with a natural instinct for sweet foods and in nature, that instinct naturally draws us to fruit.
When we are hungry - and I mean really hungry - fruit is often the most satisfying food we can eat. Is there anything better than to devour a delicious ripe mango on a hot summer day? Or to bite into a luscious, freshly-picked apple? Or to enjoy a sweet, juicy ripe orange? Is there any man-made dish that can beat the perfection of a fully ripe cherry?
Fruits have been consumed by human beings going as far back in time as we know, whereas grains, legumes and dairy products have only been cultivated for 10,000 years or less, which is just a breath in the life of humanity. Anthropological studies have shown that fruit has been an important part of the human diet for hundreds of thousands of years.
Fruit has always been recognized as one of the healthiest foods there is. In the minds of most people, fruit is seen as a healthy food we should eat more of due to its vitamin content. But even when realizing the exceptional nutritional qualities of fruit, very few people actually give it the place it deserves in the diet. Fruit is still eaten as a “snack” or a “dessert,” but is rarely seen as a staple food. In the mind of the masses, fruit is a “healthy snack” but not something that can really sustain a hard-working man, like meat or bread. They don’t realize that fruit should be a staple in the diet, and has been for thousands upon thousands of years, long before bread and rice were cultivated, and long before cheese, sandwiches and twinkies were invented.
Fruit eating offers many benefits:
* Fruit is the best source of the natural sugar needed for energy. * Fruit is packed with vitamins, and still represents the best source of vitamins in any food. * Fruit is packed with anti-oxidants. * Fruit is easier to digest than grains. Fruit is basically pre-digested. Digesting ripe fruit hardly requires any digestive enzymes, and is thus less taxing to the body. * Fruit is alkaline forming (whereas meat, fish, grains and legumes are acid-forming). * Fruit contains an abundance of pure water. * Fruit is easy to eat. It doesn’t require much preparation. * Fruit is beautiful. All of our senses are nourished by fruit, not just our taste buds. * People who eat lots of fruit live longer. A study published in the British Medical Journal (September 2001), showed that fresh fruit offers the best bet for a long life. The results of a study showed that frequent fruit eaters had a 32 percent lower risk of dying from cerebrovascular disease such as stroke, and a 24 percent lower risk of dying from ischemic heart disease, than those who ate fruit less than once a day. * Fruit contains lots of fiber, which is necessary for optimum digestion.
Eating fruit before meals and other food combining rules Natural Hygienists have known for a long time that fruit doesn’t combine well with other foods. The reason is that fruit contains simple sugars that require no digestion. Thus, they will not stay for a long time in the stomach. Other foods, such as foods rich in fat, protein and starch, will stay in the stomach for a longer period of time because they require more digestion. So if you eat fruit after a meal, the fruit sugar will stay for too long in the stomach and ferment. This is why people experience digestive trouble when eating fruit that way. They then blame that particular fruit for their trouble and claim that they are “allergic” to it.
Natural Hygienists have been recommending for a long time that fruit be eaten alone with no other foods. They have also recommended eating melons alone and avoiding mixing acid fruits with sweet fruits such as bananas. These are great recommendations, but can be definitely be simplified.
Many people have a difficult time eating a meal of fruit alone. They’ll eat a meal of melon and not so long after they’ll be hungry again, for the simple and obvious reason that melons are not calorie dense. Eating a small cantaloupe (200 calories) is not going to sustain you for very long. But because they have read somewhere that mixing melons with other fruits is not allowed, they’ll try to wait until the next meal to eat something else and then will often in the meantime overeat on dried fruits and nuts to compensate.
The solution to this is very simple: since fruit digests so fast, it is possible to eat fruit before any other food. You can, when you are hungry, eat as much fruit as you care for. One type of fruit only would be ideal. Then wait a little bit, like 5-10 minutes, and have any other food you desire. This can be a salad, a little avocado with tomatoes, some nuts, or anything. It can be cooked food too. If you’ve been trying to follow food-combining rules without success, this new information could be very valuable to you.
The same goes with mixing other fruits together. You can eat all the melon you want, and then, if you are still hungry, eat another type of fruit to satisfy your appetite. It is not necessary to eat melons alone if they are eaten before another foods. You can even have melon and then have an avocado after. The only thing that is important to remember is to have the fruit first - not after, and ideally only have one variety at a time.
Fruit & Physical Exercise Fruit is the ideal food for exercise. The best post workout snack or meal is not muffins, yogurt, or protein shakes, but fresh fruit. Runners and other athletes have long known that there is nothing better than high-water content, sweet fruit, such as oranges or melons, after a workout. They contain enough water to hydrate the body and their natural sugars are quickly utilized for energy production.
Regular physical activity improves insulin sensitivity, which is the effectiveness of insulin in transporting sugar to your cells. In other words, if you exercise, you’ll be able to utilize fruit sugar a lot better and will be less likely to experience ‘sugar swings’ and blood sugar fluctuations.
Is Fruit Alkaline or Acid Forming? It has been known for a long time that fruit is one of the most alkaline forming foods there is. Even if it is acid to the taste, like oranges, after digestion the end result is alkaline-forming.
However, some authors have recently claimed the contrary. According to Dr. Robert Young, author of “The pH Miracle,” fruit is acid-forming due to its high sugar content. He then goes on to explain his unproven theory that the sugar in fruit ferments and produces acidity in the body.
Dr. Robert Young is completely mistaken on this point. Fruit is alkaline-forming, even if it contains sugar. The natural sugar that fruit contains is perfectly utilized by the body and doesn’t necessarily ferment to produce acidity. The fact is that fruit diets have been used for hundreds of years to combat acidosis. People go on grape cures, oranges cures, etc., and it helps to eliminate excess acidity in their bodies. It has been known for hundreds of years by naturopaths and Natural Hygienists and other health practitioners, both traditional and alternative, that fruit is alkaline forming - and that fact is not at all challenged by the nonsensical theories of Dr. Young about fruit being acid-forming.
Fruit & Minerals Some authors now recommend that we should avoid eating a lot of fruit because it doesn’t contain enough minerals. According to them, fruit grown today with modern agricultural methods, even when it’s organic, doesn’t contain enough minerals. They recommend that we eat more vegetables instead.
But do these people realize that if fruit grown today has less minerals than it used to have, then vegetables, which are grown in the same soil, have less minerals too? Are they suggesting that we eat fewer vegetables too? Then we shouldn’t eat anything at all? Common sense warns us against such advice. Fruit grown today still contains minerals and is still packed with vitamins. The solution is not to stop eating fruit, but rather to seek out the best-quality fruit we can find. Fruit is still essential in the diet as it provides natural sugars for energy and is still the best source of vitamins.
Is fruit too hybridized? Many authors now claim that we should avoid fruit because it is too hybridized. According to them, hybridized fruit contains too much sugar. Let’s look at those arguments for a minute. The process of hybridization is a natural one. There is nothing wrong there. What humans have done is the same that nature has done for thousands of years. We have selected the seeds from the best-tasting fruits and planted those seeds instead of the seeds of inferior fruits. The same process of hybridization and seed selection has been done for all vegetables, such as tomatoes, lettuce, etc., so that today all the food that we buy has been hybridized for hundreds of years.
Problems arise when fruits are hybridized for purely commercial reasons. For example, we have witnessed the arrival of seedless fruits in the marketplace in the last few years. These fruits have been hybridized extensively solely in order to produce a fruit of inferior nutritional quality but with other qualities that the market is looking for (such as a seedless fruit). With that in mind, I totally agree with the hybridization detractors who have launched a war against seedless grapes and watermelons. Those fruits are certainly of inferior quality.
In the future, we can hope that humanity will come back to its senses and grow food with exceptional taste and nutritional value, not food with certain cosmetic aspects that the market seeks.
In the meantime, we will still have to buy the best fruit that we can find. By eating a large variety of foods, we can still ensure a complete nutritional balance on the foods that we find in the stores.
And the fact that these fruits contain a lot of sugar is certainly not a problem, unless one decides to eat only fruit, which I do not recommend. Fruit sugar is utilized perfectly by the body and is the most natural source of energy we can consume. As long as we eat whole fresh fruit with all of its natural water and fiber, that fruit sugar is not going to be a problem.
Of course, I would not recommend that you base your diet on one fruit, such as bananas. I believe in eating a large variety of foods. Bananas are of no more importance in the diet than kiwis or blueberries. I believe in eating according to the season and not eating one food, such as bananas, every day - even though they may be available all year round.
Is fruit too high in sugar? The body needs natural sugar as a source of energy. When starchy foods such as potatoes and bread are eaten, the digestive enzymes break down complex sugar (starch) into simpler sugars. When fruit is eaten, the body uses the simple sugars (fructose or others) directly, without needing to break them down any further. However, this is not like eating refined sugar. In the case of refined sugar, the food is devoid of nutrients and fiber. Thus, the sugar enters the blood quickly and is not slowed down by the process of digesting fiber. Plus, the calories found in sugar are “empty” because they do not provide any vitamins or minerals. Fruit, on the other hand, is a nutrient-dense food. Which means that for every calorie it provides, it also gives many micro-nutrients - vitamins and minerals.
If you cut out most sweet fruit (sugar) and most or all complex carbohydrates (starch), then you will need to get your calories from other sources - protein or fat. It is difficult to get a lot of calories from protein, and high-protein diets are generally recognized to be harmful for health. So what will happen inevitably is that you’ll end up eating large amounts of fats. The consequences of eating a high-fat diet are well-researched. (See Klaper, McDougall, Fuhrman, Barnard, etc.)
Most leading vegetarian and vegan experts recommend a diet with about 10-15% of the calories coming from fat. Certainly, no credible health expert would recommend a diet with more than 20-25% of the calories coming from fat.
But many raw-food enthusiasts are not aware of this. They live on a very high-fat diet. They eat raw nut butters, nut pates, refined oils, flax crackers, etc. They’ll make a salad with 2-3 avocados thrown in there (sometimes more!), and the bag of macadamia nuts becomes their comfort food. On average, they get more than 50% of their calories from fat, often up to 70%. Without a doubt, such a large amount of fat in the diet is extremely unhealthy and is the main reason why most people fail on those diets.
An unfortunate side-effect of that unhealthy diet is that they can no longer handle sweet fruit. It has been proven that high-fat diets decrease insulin sensitivity (the effectiveness of insulin in carrying sugar to the cells), and thus raise blood sugar levels. 1 So those living on high-fat diets, that is, most raw-foodists, will inevitably experience more blood sugar swings when they eat fruit. So the problem is not the fruit per se, but the high amounts of fat consumed. Once you substantially reduce the amount of fat that you eat, by eliminating all oils and reducing the quantities of avocados, nuts, and other fatty foods, your body will be able to process and utilize fruit sugar much more efficiently.
With the knowledge that the primary source of fuel for the human body is natural sugar, the concept of fruit having “too much” sugar becomes illogical. The only way you can consume too much sugar in the form of fruit would be to overeat, which is difficult to achieve when eating high-water content fruit.
A fruit based diet - what is it? A fruit-based diet would be where you would get most of your calories from sweet fruit. That means at least 50% of your calories from fresh fruit. Does that sound like a lot? I’ve designed for you some seasonal fruit menus that come out to about 1000 calories each. Remember that I’m not suggesting that you eat this fruit all at once. It could be throughout the day. I’m giving you examples so you can get an idea of how much fruit it takes to account for 1000 calories. So for a person needing 2000 calories per day, that would account for half of their caloric intake.
And remember how enjoyable and vitamin-packed all that fruit is! I’m also giving you an idea as to which nutrients are being met by eating all that fruit everyday. I did the values for myself (5 10, male, 28 years old), so it is approximate.
1000 calories of fruit is about:
A big bowl of cherries (about 50 cherries): 250 calories 1 pint of strawberries (100 calories) 15 apricots (250 calories) 3 mangoes (400 calories)
(That fruit, by the way, will provide 750% of your vitamin C, 385% of your vitamin A, 125% of your vitamin E, 110% of your vitamin B-6, as well as good amounts of magnesium (42%), phosphorus (42%), iron (65%), calcium (23%), thiamin (63%), riboflavin (77%), niacin (55%), and folate (55%))
1000 calories of fruit is about:
4 bananas (435 calories) 3 large oranges (250 calories) 2 pomegranates (200 calories) 1 large apple (125 calories)
(That fruit will provide 612.48% of your vitamin C, 268.04% of your vitamin B-6, as well as a good amount of vitamin E (49.72%), folate (70%), niacin (30%), iron (33%), and calcium (27%), phosphorus (30%), and magnesium (52%))
1000 calories of fruit is about:
4 apples (350 calories) 4 large persimmons (475 calories) 2 pears (200 calories)
(That fruit will provide 149.25% of your vitamin A, 158.57% of your vitamin C, as well as good amounts of vitamin E (73%), thiamin (30%), riboflavin (26%), vitamin B-6 (76%), iron (28%), phosphorus (27%), and magnesium (27%))
1000 calories of fruit is about:
1 large cantaloupe (285 calories) 1 pound of fresh figs (350 calories) 2 cups of grapes (225 calories) 2 apples (165 calories)
(That fruit will provide 265.73% of your vitamin A, 7977.1% of your vitamin E(!), 670.51% of your vitamin C, 289.11% of your thiamin, and 152.89% of your vitamin B-6, as well as good amounts of riboflavin (30%), niacin (36%), folate (39%), iron (30%), calcium (28%), and magnesium (30%))
Fruit and your Teeth It has long been known by dentists that fresh fruit doesn’t encourage tooth decay. Even though fruit contains sugar, it is generally not a problem because nature has packed a lot of fiber and water along with that natural sugar. The combined effect of fiber and water rinses and cleans the mouth. With that in mind, we can clearly see the danger of dried fruit and fruit juice. With dried fruit, the water has been removed. Because of that, dried fruit will stick to your teeth and gums, greatly encouraging tooth decay and gum disease. Many perfectly healthy teeth have been ruined by the daily consumption of raisins, dates and other dried fruits. With fruit juice, the water is still present, but the fiber has been removed. You then end up with a product more concentrated in acids and sugar. If the fruit juice is sipped and not drunk at once, it will encourage tooth decay. The fiber is no longer present to clean the teeth. This has long been known by preventative dentists, who have blamed apple juice for ruining the teeth of many of our children.
Acids in fruits can have a negative impact on the teeth and contribute to enamel erosion and decay. That goes especially for the citrus fruits and unripe fruits. For that reason, and also the fact that many of us are prone to tooth decay, I highly recommend rinsing your mouth with water after eating fruit.
Eating Fruit Only With any good thing, there always seems to be someone to take it to the extreme. Very few people are claiming that since fruit is an ideal food, it is all we should eat.
Every credible nutrition expert knows that living on fruit alone will deteriorate health. That doesn’t mean that fruit is not healthy. Eating green vegetables only will also prove to be unsustainable - but that doesn’t change the fact that green vegetables are healthy food.
Non-Sweet Fruit In this article I have used the culinary definition of fruit: sweet fruits. Of course, anyone with a little knowledge of botany knows that in nature, not all fruits are sweet. Cucumbers, squash, eggplant (aubergine), and tomatoes are all examples of non-sweet fruits. However, for the purpose of clarity in nutritional information, those fruits are best classified as vegetables.
Eating More Fruit A great way to eat more fruit is to make fresh fruit smoothies. Smoothies need not to be complicated to be tasty. For example, I like to blend bananas with water and have that as a smoothie. When I make that smoothie, I will blend a few bananas with about 1 cup of water and drink it after my exercise session. I also like blending mangoes with other fruits. For example, mango blended with papaya or peaches is amazingly delicious.
Frozen bananas go pretty well in all sorts of fruit smoothies. Try, for example, blending a few frozen bananas with a little water and some fresh berries. You’ll be amazed by the taste.
I hope that this article will encourage you to incorporate more fresh fruit into your diet. In conclusion, remember the following formulas:
Fresh fruit + more exercise + less grains and refined foods = better health and energy
Less fat + more fruit + more green vegetables = even better health and energy
A good diet + a balanced mind + fun - extremism = unexpected benefits
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