Fruit Health Benefits
Fruit Benefits
2011...This article is going to be about fruit health benefits. However, I am afraid it is going to be impossible to give you all of the great benefits in just one article. There are so many health benefits of eating fruit that it would take volumes to name them all. All fruits have their own very special benefits and although I can not even begin to mention them all in a short space of time, if you will browse the list of fruits on this website you will find each specific fruit and the special health attributes it can contribute to keeping your body functioning to the best of its abilities.
For centuries the benefits of eating fruit on a regular basis has been known. Many antique medical books and journals attest to the fact that fruit and fruit juices were recommended for different medical problems long before science advanced far enough to tell us exactly what was in a fruits chemical makeup to make it so beneficial. All our ancestors knew was fruit not only tasted good, but was good for their bodies, and that was enough for them.
For instance, centuries ago, sailors aboard ships kept coming down with a debilitating disease called scurvy. At times the whole crew had it which made for a disastrous voyage with no one to run the ship and many lives were lost. What they didn't know was that scurvy was a disease caused only by a vitamin C deficiency. This problem was easily solved one day when someone discovered that sailors who had citrus fruits in their diet, very seldom came down with scurvy. Vitamins were not discovered until around 1920, so the sailors didn't know why citrus fruits prevented the disease, they only knew it did. By the way, an interesting side note to this story is that this is the reason British sailors became known as limeys. They were issued limes as part of their daily food regiment to prevent scurvy, and many of them were seen at times sucking on limes. So you see, fruit health benefits were known about long before the modern day health revolution came along. They just didn't have the science to know why it was so healthy.
Today things have changed. Thanks to the world of modern technology, we can find out exactly what vitamins, minerals, and nutrients are in every piece of fruit we eat. By knowing this we can pick and choose the fruit, fruit juice or fruit concentrate that may be best to utilize for a particular health problem we are having at the time.
For decades now we have been learning in our health studies at school as well as being told by people in the health field, that we should eat at least 5 servings of low fat healthy fruit per day to gain all the fruit health benefits they can provide us. Unfortunately few of us use this valuable information, and at times it does lead to health problems that could have been prevented.
Fruits and the substances found in them have been known to cure or at least help relieve a number of serious diseases. In most cases, though it can lessen its effects, fruit can not cure a disease such as cancer, heart trouble or high blood pressure. However, it has been found if you will consume a sufficient amount of healthy fruit daily, it can greatly lessen the chances of you getting these diseases.
Two of the reasons fruit can prevent so many health problems is because they have such high fiber content and almost all of them have very few calories. When individuals replace their high calorie, high fat, high cholesterol food with fruit, many of their health problems go away. Of course another plus here is if you will consume fruit in place of some of the things you know are bad for your body, you will start losing weight. Obesity is one of the main causes of very many serious diseases and health problems. So, by eating fruit instead of junk food, you not only get the fruit health benefits, you start shedding some of those extra, unhealthy pounds.
Sometimes it is hard to eat a good supply of fruit everyday. You are on the run or busy and just don't take the time to do it. Well, this is no excuse. All it takes is a little forethought and planning and this problem is solved. Here are a few things you may want to think about doing.
1 – Put fruit in your cereal in the morning. If you are not eating breakfast, start. It is an important meal.
2 – Take fruit with you – There are many fruits like apples, oranges, pears, etc., that are very easy to carry with you to munch on during the day. You could even used the dried varieties for a healthy snack.
3 – Keep fruit close at hand – When you are watching television or sitting at the computer, instead of having a lot of unhealthy bags of chips or bars of sweets to reach out for, have some cut up pieces of fruit in a bowl close at hand.
4 - Don't forget the great juice benefits. Though you may lose some of the fiber, fruit juice is full of the same great nutrients found in the body of the fruit and it makes it so easy. A small 8 ounce glass of fruit juice gives you the same fruit health benefits as 2 servings of fruit.
I could go on and on about fruit health benefits and what they can do to make your life more fulfilling and disease free. If you would like to hang around our website a while, we have the health benefits of many specific fruits listed and a little information about each one. You are sure to find something interesting and beneficial in your quest for a healthy lifestyle. If you think about it, put a bookmark on our page. We are going to constantly add more fruits to our list and update any information we get on fruit health benefits. We are going to be a quality website with quality information so come back and visit.
Added Information
This site is about fruit health benefits but we have started adding some great fruit desserts, too. Some of these desserts are high calorie so eat smaller portions. The fruit is still good for you, but if you are wanting to use fruit for dietary purposes you may want to replace some of the ingredients in the recipes to lower calorie ingredients. If you like cherries be sure and visit one of our other sites Cherries Health Benefits.