Benefits of eating your fruits and vegetables

Feeding on fruits and vegetables helps a person get nutrients that his or her body need. Vitamins, minerals, dietary fiber, water are all found in fruit and vegetable diet. Some are sources of vitamin A, while others are rich in vitamin C, folate, and potassium. Almost all fruits and vegetables are naturally low in fat and calories and none have cholesterol. All of these fruit and vegetable characteristics protect us from getting chronic diseases such as heart disease, stroke, and some types of cancer. Fruit and vegetables are rich in a number of essential vitamins and minerals that cannot be found in other types of foods or they may contain a higher content of nutrients than other foods. Some fruits like water melons have up to 94% fibre, which is essential for the body and skin. The seeds too contain plenty of fibre that our body needs to help cleanse and rid itself of waste and toxins. Fibre is needed to keep bowel movements regular, lower cholesterol, and prevent constipation, bowel cancer and other illnesses of the bowel and intestine. Different coloured fruits and vegetables contain different minerals, nutrients and antioxidants and therefore it is recommended that we consume a wide variety of fruit and vegetables in order to receive the benefits from the various types. For example, dark green leafy vegetables such as watercress, cabbage or spinach contain important body nutrients that protect, delay and may prevent the onset of degenerative age-related eye diseases such as cataracts or mascular degeneration. They are also rich in vitamins C and E, which are both very powerful antioxidants. This means that eating dark green vegetables daily could help to protect the body from developing cancerous cells and heart disease. Red, orange and yellow coloured fruits and vegetables such as melon, tomatoes, carrots and apricots contain lots of vitamins A, C and E. They help to fight certain types of cancer and act by neutralising free radicals in the body. As well as containing large amounts of vitamins A, C and E, fruits and vegetables are also rich in vitamins B and K plus minerals such as potassium, calcium, phosphorous, manganese and iron. Vitamin C constitutes one of the most important body nutrients found in many fruits. Vitamin C, which is also termed as ascorbic acid is best known for causing scurvy when a person does not get enough of this nutrient. A patient with vitamin C deficiency can suffer or present disease symptoms such as bleeding, bruising, and hair loss. Fortunately, scurvy is very rare today because people are continuously sensitized to include plenty of Vitamin C in their diet. Foods that are good sources of Vitamin C include; red peppers, Papayas, green peppers, Strawberries, Citrus fruits such as oranges and grape fruit, Mangos. Vitamin C helps your body absorb iron, so it is a brilliant idea to pair iron rich foods with foods that have a lot of Vitamin C. Foods that are a good source of iron include; liver, lean red meats, pork, lamb, beans and iron fortified whole grains such as cereals, breads and rice. Ends