Eat Your Fruits

For many, fruits aren't their favorite things to eat, or at least they don't make them a priority.  Many people see fruit as a snack and maybe focus on the basics like apples or bananas, and of the same variety than you've had since you were a kid.  I'm here to tell you that fruit is an important part of my daily nutrition plan and it can do wonders for you as well.

I've always been a meat and bread kind of guy.  A steady diet of that over a few decades led me to the point where I needed to make a change.  As I started on my fitness journey and researched various nutrition plans, I determined that I needed to make fruits an integral part of my diet.  Fruit can get boring unless you know where to look and are willing to try new things.

Top 5 Reasons To Eat Your Fruits

1. Get your fiber.  Most nutritional experts say that you need about 25g of fiber a day for your health.  Fiber keeps you feeling full, helps unclog your blood vessels and helps clean out your digestive system.  Fruits are full of natural, healthy fiber
2. Stop Oxidation.  When your car gets old and starts to get rusty, that's oxidation.  The same thing can happen to your body.  Berries, as well as other fruits, are great anti-oxidants.  They contain vitamins such as C and E that help slow, if not eliminate the onset of the oxidation process inside of you.  So, eat fruit, don't let your brain get rusty, stay smarter.
3. Get your vitamins and minerals.  Liek vegetables, fruits are a great source of naturally occurring vitamins and minerals.  Orange and dark green fruits are full of vitamin A which is great for skin and eye health.  Vitamin B, found in many different fruits, helps you make energy from your other foods.  Vitamin C, found in citrus fruits like oranges, helps you heal and stay healthy.  Vitamin E, a terrific anti-oxidant, is found in many tropical fruits like papaya and mango.  Bananas are filled with potassium and magnesium which help with things like blood pressure maintenance.
4. Stay Hydrated.  Fruits are full of water.  Think of a juicy peach or a watermelon.  That juice that drips down your hands while you're eating it is water.  You need to get alot of water on a daily basis to maintain healthy body function and fruits are definitely more exciting than downing another cup of water.
5. Eat variety.  You may have heard the phrase "Eat the rainbow".  You already know that different fruits contain different minerals and vitamins.  If you eat the rainbow of fruits available, you wll get the rainbow of different nutrients.  The colors relate to the nutritional make up, so more vairety of color will mean more variety of the vitamins and minerals you need to stay healthy

Ideas To Help Like You Fruits

The first thing to do to get started eating more fruits is to start eating fruit. As I've gone to the produce aisle at my store, I've found a whole new variety of fruits that I love that I wouldn't have taken a second look at a year ago.  Try fresh fruits; try dried fruits (without added sugar); try natural preserves and fruit sauces; try different varieties of staple fruits.  I recently discovered honeycrisp apples.  For me, this blows a red delicious apple out of the water.  Dump some fruit into your blender with some water and protein powder, and maybe some plain greek yogurt for a great smoothie.  You can try dipping your fruit in a little bit of peanut butter or plain greek yogurt.  I like to add mixed fruits in with some cottage cheese for a good breakfast or snack.  Look at recipes.  Google fruit recipes and give them a shot.  Stay away from recipes that add sugar, fruit is already sweet enough.  You can also try the fruit compote recipe as a topping to your favorite "healthy" pancakes.  Finally, eat the rainbow.  Did you see the picture at the top?  Next time you're going to a family party, bring a fun fruit salad.  You're going to find somethings that you like, get a ton of different vitamins and minerals and broaden your horizons.

So, you now see the many health and wellnes benefits of fruits and your armed with some new ways to try them so...

Eat Your Fruits!!!