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Fruit
In progress...... I'm just getting started here, still much more to come.
The information on this page is from various sources such as books, magazines, and Web sites.
Fruit is necessary for good health, and the fructose in fruit is not the same as the processed fructose from corn, which some say is not healthy. Fruit contains all the enzymes, vitamins, minerals, and fiber to effectively assimilate the fructose as a rich nutrient for human consumption.
Eat
Clean fruit as you do veggies. See Veggies page.
Apples Apples have plenty of health benefits, including a high fiber content and lots of cancer-fighting antioxidants.
Of the 7,000 varieties of apples available worldwide, only a few make their way to the produce section of your grocery store. Some of the most common varieties include Red Delicious, Granny Smith, Fuji, McIntosh, Pink Lady, Braeburn, Winesap, and Golden Delicious.
A study performed at Cornell University found that a powerful antioxidant in apples might help fend off Alzheimer's disease.
The study compared the effectiveness of two antioxidants — quercetin (found in apples) and vitamin C. What they found was that rat brain cells treated with quercetin resisted Alzheimer's-like damage more readily than those treated with vitamin C or nothing at all.
Apples are the best sources of quercetin. In light of the study results, scientists are encouraging people to eat more apples. The highest concentration of quercetin is found in the skins of red apples. If you don't like whole apples, you can also get smaller concentrations of quercetin from onions, blueberries, and cranberries.
For more details, click here: http://www.usapple.org/media/newsreleases/cnr111704.shtml
Bananas
Bananas:
A Perfect Choice for Dieters Click this link to read the full article. Good article on how bananas ripen. http://www.chiquita.com/chiquita/discover/cbripen.asp
http://www.corsinet.com/trivia/bananas.html Banana facts and why bananas are good for you.
Berries
Berries are super foods containing some of the highest levels of antioxidants known to man. A half cup of blueberries provides the antioxidant equivalent of five servings of other fruits and vegetables.
From http://www.newstarget.com/001505.html:Berries such as blueberries, cranberries, strawberries, and raspberries are rich in disease-fighting phytochemicals that prevent and even reverse serious diseases like cancer, diabetes, heart disease, stomach ulcers and even help lower cholesterol levels. The key is to be eating these berries in their raw, whole fruit form rather than trying to eat processed berries or drink fruit drinks made from berries. In order to get the healing phytonutrients, you must get the berries in the freshest form possible -- that means no processed berries, just raw berries, right off the bush or straight from the grocery store.
From Dr. Mercola: “In selecting fruit, berries such as blueberries, raspberries, lingonberries, bilberries, cranberries, and black currants should be among your top choices because they have, relative to other fruits, a lower quantity of sugar while providing high vitamin C, dietary fiber, folic acid, and phytochemicals. They provide excellent protection against heart disease and cancer. They also can help prevent and treat vision problems.”
Blueberries are among the best of all berries. They're low in sugar compared to other fruits. They contain antioxidant compounds that show promise in reversing or slowing some of the effects of aging, especially in the brain.
Strawberries are loaded with vitamin C, vitamin K, and fiber. These succulent berries also have antiinflammatory and anticancer properties and are packed with phytonutrients that protect your heart. Their color comes from powerful antioxidants that can prevent free radical damage and protect the body from premature aging. Fresh strawberries are at the peak of their season from May through July, but you can buy the frozen variety all year long. Make sure that the fresh berries you select are firm, plump, and shiny red. Wild strawberries are smaller than the cultivated kind, but don’t let that discourage you – they have a more intense flavor. They perish quickly, so freeze any leftovers before they go bad (add a little lemon juice before freezing). They’ll keep for up to year.
Grapes
Grapes fight tooth decay, stop viruses in their tracks, and are rich in other ingredients that many researchers believe may lower risk of cancer.
Olives
Yes, olives are a fruit—a small, bitter, oval fruit, green when unripe and black when ripe, used for food and for oil. Olive oil is cold-pressed olive juice. That’s why it's so healthy and is used in the finest cuisines all over the world. Cold pressed means that the olives are picked and squeezed and are not boiled before squeezing.
See Tips About Foods page.
Oranges
We all know that oranges are a good source of vitamin C (about 70 mg. for a medium-sized whole orange). They also have 4 mg dietary fiber, and research is finding that pectin and other forms of fiber found in the white layer beneath the skin of the orange can help curb appetite and suppress hunger for up to four hours.
Whole oranges are also a healthy snack for people with diabetes because the fiber helps to keep blood sugar levels under control. You'll get the vitamin C from orange juice, but will lose the fiber that's lost in the juicing process. So, if you juice, just make sure you're counting fiber grams and getting enough from other sources.
For everything there is to know about oranges, go to this page on the World's Healthiest Foods Web site.
Pomegranate
Contains high amounts of ellagic acid, an antioxidant with proven anticancer properties and excellent benefits for female health.
This page on-line July 17, 2005
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