Like fitness Tip #16, where your mom was right (remember the veggies), with this tip your doctor was right “an apple a day”.
If you want to be as healthy as possible, and to be able to enjoy life without the constraints of illness and disease, eat more fruit. If you want to live a long, and active life, eating fruit every day as part of a balanced diet is just one of the ways you can improve your health, and give your body a helping hand in living to a healthy old age. Fruit has plenty of health benefits. People who eat more fruit as part of a healthy diet are less likely to develop diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, Alzheimer’s and cancer, and they provide your body with all the nutrients it needs to fight other infections and repair cells, too.
Fruit is also packed with dietary fiber, which helps to keep your digestive system running properly. Not only will this help eliminate waste products more efficiently, but it can also help prevent colon and rectal cancers as well, because there will be fewer toxins exposed to that area for a shorter period of time.
These days our bodies need more vitamins and minerals than ever before. This is because we work longer hours, are exposed to more toxic fumes from pollution and are under more stress than we used to be. Eating fruit every day is a simple way of providing your body with these nutrients to ensure you are well equipped to deal with the stresses of daily life, and possibly protect you from illnesses in the future.
Below is a list of the health benefits of eating five servings of fruit each day
1. Reduced risk of a stroke and other cardiovascular diseases
2. Reduced risk of developing type 2 diabetes
3. Reduced risk of developing certain cancers, including mouth, stomach and colon or rectal cancers
4. Reduced risk of developing coronary heart disease
5. Reduced risk of developing kidney stones and osteoporosis
Also a diet involving regular intake of fruit will provide your body with antioxidants to help prevent free radicals from attacking the body. Free radicals are molecules that are produced when our bodies react with oxygen. They react with other molecules within cells and can damage their proteins, membranes and genes. The damage caused can lead to the onset of disease, in particular Alzheimer’s, heart disease and cancer. It also contributes to the ageing of our bodies.
The following external factors also trigger the production of free radicals in the body:
1. Pollution
2. Sunlight
3. Smoking
4. Alcohol
It always best to eat whole fresh fruit. Fruit that is in season will always be best and the freshest. We’re back to the farmer’s market with this one, plus if you buy in season you’ll eat a larger variety of fruit which is better for you anyway. Support your local community and your health. But fruit in any form will offer benefits for you try dried, frozen or even canned (if it’s in its own juices)
The fruit can be consumed in a number of ways – in smoothies, on its own as a snack, on pizza or dried on breakfast cereal. Eat fruit instead of chocolate or as a snack instead of chips, any fruit will do. Eating fruit as part of your daily diet will make you feel better, look better, and be more active and healthy. It’s easy to enjoy fruit as part of your diet, and much healthier too.
Enjoy, I’ll be back tomorrow with Tip #21
Speak Your Mind