Fruits: The Perfect Health Food
By Connie Krochmal
Move over, tomato. You aren’t the only source of lycopene. Here comes the watermelon and grapefruit. Lycopene can lower the risk of prostate cancer.
In America the two major causes of death are heart disease and cancer. I once heard a physician say, “If heart disease doesn’t get you, then cancer will.”
Fruits and vegetables aren’t cure-alls, but a diet rich in fresh produce can go a long way in helping us to preserve good health. Fruits are high in Vitamin C, fiber, and other healthful nutrients. They contain beneficial phyto-nutrients, such as antioxidants, lutein, and flavanoids.
If there’s one perfect health food that would be the blueberry. These have many anti-oxidant properties. They even seem to ward off Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.
An anti-oxidant, such as those making up fruit pigments, is a substance that helps to prevent cellular damage caused by compounds in the body called free radicals. At the moment we can’t prevent the free radicals from forming. So if we consume large amounts of fruits and vegetables with anti-oxidant qualities, we are less likely to suffer from damage. The brighter the color of the fruit, the higher the level of antioxidants it contains.
We may feel it’s all hype when we see ads about the benefits of orange juice. Yet citrus can play a part in preserving good health. It can prevent both colon and prostate cancers, and reduce the possibility of heart disease, such as heart attacks and strokes.
Of the fall fruits, apples and cranberries are healthful choices. Apples contain flavanoids, which can lower your risk for certain cancers, heart attacks, and heart disease. The varieties with the greatest amount are Delicious, Fuji, Crispin, Liberty, and Northern Spy.
It’s a good thing cranberries are available almost year-round because they’re so good for us. They contain tannins, which are very good for preventing heart disease. This ingredient is the same one that is found in red wines. Cranberries can also prevent urinary infections.
To prevent wrinkles eat more apples and prunes. A study found these fruits, along with tea, helped protect against wrinkles. Apparently the antioxidants they contain can help the skin to fight against the aging associated with exposure to the sun.
All the berries or small fruits are healthful. They can protect one against age-related brain decline, heart disease, and cancers. Raspberries and strawberries are especially effective in preventing cancer.
If you’re looking for fruits that are high in anti-oxidants, look for blue, purple, and red ones. These rank very high. They can all help to prevent various types of cellular damage.
Blueberries have earned their reputation as a health food. Yet researchers found other small fruits are very beneficial. A study at Ohio State University revealed a 60-80% reduction in colon cancer when rats were fed a diet that was high in black raspberries.
There is no fountain of youth, as we know it. Blueberries are the closest things we have at the moment for they can ward off age-related changes. The rats that were given lots of blueberries seemed to hardly age.
A recent issue of Agricultural Research, published by USDA, had interesting news. A Clemson University scientist found muscadine grapes, raspberries, and strawberries could stop tumor growth of certain kinds of breast and cervical cancers. Blackberries and blueberries were effective against some breast cancers.
For years consumers were told to eat fruits for their Vitamin C content. Now we know these are also high in folate, fiber, and potassium as well. A diet high in potassium is associated with a lower risk of stroke. For that reason fruits with high potassium content, such as bananas and oranges are good for the health. In the study at Queen’s Medical Center at the University of Hawaii found the people with low potassium levels were at increased risk for strokes. The potassium and magnesium in fruits also helps to build strong bones.
In research at Tufts University the researches analyzed the anti-oxidant content of 50 fresh fruits and vegetables. All the top-ranking ones happen to be berries. They say this is apparently due to the large amount of pigments in the berries. Most of this pigment is called anthocyanin. It gives these small fruits their blue, purple, and red colors. The orange pigments in apricots, peaches, and oranges are carotenes or lutein, all of which are beneficial.
If that isn’t enough to convince you to eat more fruits and veggies, they are also good for the lungs. These can prevent diseases such as asthma, chronic bronchitis, and emphysema. Researchers at the University of Nottingham in the United Kingdom recommended apples with their peels and tomatoes.
We may eat luscious tasty fruit because of its flavor. Yet these are rich sources of nutrients and healthful phyto-chemicals.
About the Author:
I am a Master Garden and a volunteer at the Cornell Plantations and at the Salvation Army, and an active garden club member. My other interests include music-classical, folk, and new age, and the performing arts.
Article courtesy of Suite101.com.
