Fruit Nutrition

Fruit nutrition

Below are some information on fruit nutrition:

Convenient, refreshing, and nutritious, fruit can easily be packed into lunchboxes or picnic baskets, show up as an appetizer or desert for any meal, be simple or elegant as the occasion demands (once you get through trying to impress with “Helga’s Super Double Chocolate Cognac Hazelnut Mousse Souffle,” try ending the next dinner party with fresh fruit and good cheese everyone will leave the table feeling much less groggy and the  dieters will love you). Research indicates that most diets should include some citrus fruit or fruit juice for breakfast and at least two other servings of fruit during the day; a between meals pickup of fruit and milk has been shown to be extremely beneficial for maintenance of energy. fruit provides energy in several ways. All fruits have three kinds of sugar: sucrose, which is like ordinary table sugar, but also fructose and glucose, which can go immediately into the bloodstream, providing energy without many of the side effects of sucrose. Fruit also aids energy production with generous supplies of potassium, which  enables glucose to be coverted to energy. The  potassium in fruit Is also essential for activating the enzymes necessary for muscle contractions, and it is an aid against high blood pressure, low blood sugar, many kinds of heart problems, and  water retention.

As a general rule, colored fruits are nutritionally superior to colorless ones (color, or lack of it, is determined by the part of the fruit that is eaten, not the peel thus, apples are essentially a colorless fruit). A green or yellow color indicates that the fruit is high in vitamin A, which is necessary for growth, reproduction, proper development of bones and teeth, good appetite and normal digestion, lactation, normal vision, healthy skin, and health of the  Mucus membranes of the sinuses, lungs, kidney, middle ear and bronchial tubes. Colored fruits, especially citrus fruits, are famous for their content of vitamin C. This vitamin is essential for proper healing, resistance to infection , and colds, formation of strong connective tissue,  healthy teeth and non brittle bones, healthy elastic skin, maintenance of normal vision, and strengthening walls  of the blood vessels and thus helping prevent varicose  veins. Fruits which normally taste sour, indicating an acidic content, can aid in the body’s absorption of iron. And depending upon the growing conditions, fruits can contain many trace minerals. fruits should be properly handled to retain their nutritional  value. Since their vitamin contents increase until they become ripe, fruits should be left in a dark place, at room temperature until ripe. Once they are ripe they begin to lose vitamins, especially A, B-2, and C, if left at room temperature; refrigeration will retard this loss. Fruits with thick peels lose vitamins much less rapidly; bruised fruits tend to lose vitamins more rapidly. Vitamin C losses can be brought on by exposure to oxygen, slow washing, soaking, boiling, peeling, or chopping. Discoloration of fruit after it is cut indicates a vitamin C loss. Since acid retards enzyme reactions such as this, rubbing or sprinkling cut fruit with lemon juice will cut down on discoloration, nutritionally, raw fruit is preferable to cooked, cooked to frozen, frozen to canned, unsweetened to sweetened. Dried fruit generally is exceptionally high in concentrated  minerals, but has lost many of the more volatile vitamins, especially vitamin C, that are found in fresh fruit. Dried fruit also has a high concentration of the sugars provided by fruit; this sugar tends to stick to the teeth when dried fruit is eaten, so, care must be taken to clean teeth thoroughly after eating dried fruit. (See also citrus fruit and fruit juice.)