Fruit is one of my favourite types of food and luckily for fruit fans, it’s incredibly cleansing and nutritious, due to the high levels of water, fibre, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.
The notable quantities of polyphenolic flavonoids, anthocyanins and vitamin C in various types of fruit, are the main reasons why they help to keep your skin healthy, hydrated and youthful, support your immune system, and help protect you from illness.
Fruit is also the fastest type of food to digest, supplying your body with almost instant energy, which is how a banana fuels a runner with clean and immediate energy to burn.
Berries
Berries rank the highest of all fruits for their antioxidant concentration, with one major study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, showing that just one cup of berries provides all the antioxidants you need in a day to help prevent disease and slow down the ageing process. Blueberries, blackberries and cranberries came out top, followed closely by apples, mangos, melons and peaches. They’re also easy to find in almost all supermarkets, though some are more seasonal than others.
Eat The Rainbow
Differently pigmented fruits offer different benefits, so eating a rainbow of colours daily is my recommendation, and purple, blue, red and orange colours offer you significant health and beauty benefits. Blue fruits like blueberries, blackberries and black grapes contain powerful anthocyanins, especially in and just under their skin, which are a type of potent antioxidant that mop up harmful free radicals in your system and help to protect your skin from everyday toxins and accelerated ageing.
Sweet cherries, raspberries, strawberries, black plums and red grapes all contain a staggering volume of antioxidants, vitamins and flavonoids such as catechin, epicatechine, quercetin and anthocyanidin. These are some of nature’s most powerful compounds for good health, all perfectly packaged into juicy, sweet, goodness.
Eat Fruit Raw
As fruit is brimming with living enzymes and delicate vitamins, it’s best enjoyed in its natural raw state, as heating can destroy much of them. Dried fruit like prunes, dates, figs and dried cranberries, also pack an impressive antioxidant punch but as they’re lower in water and higher in more concentrated sugar, they’re best enjoyed more sparingly and work well in desserts or sweet treat.
Good Mood Food
Ripe bananas are rich in vitamin B6 which, along with zinc and the amino acid tryptophan, are needed to produce your ‘happy hormone’ serotonin, and your ‘sleep hormone’ melatonin. So eating bananas regularly can can help to improve your mood, reduce cravings for sugar and carbs, and encourage restful sleep. They also make an ideal snack, as they’re high in fibre, energy and nutrients.
Fruit and Bloating
Although fruit is relatively low in calories and almost fat-free, some people may experience bloating and water retention after eating sweeter fruit. If this is the case, try focusing on lower-sugar blueberries, raspberries and strawberries. Fruit is a very healthy type of food to include in your daily diet, but as with every type of food, it’s best enjoyed in sensible quantities and especially if weight loss is your goal.
