Eat Your Fruit...First?

According to Dr. Oz, we should eat the fruit part of our meals first. When we swallow fruit, it doesn’t mosey down the pipe like everything else – it wants to zip through the stomach to the intestines as fast as it can so that it can clean out our system.

So, if you eat your chips or a sandwich before a piece of fruit, it can’t go as fast as it wants and clogs up behind all the other food. That’s why you sometimes burp after eating fruit on a full stomach…

Here is some info on certain fruits and how they can help us. And I quote…

KIWI: Tiny but mighty, and a good source of potassium, magnesium, vitamin E and fiber. Its vitamin C content is twice that of an orange!

AN APPLE a day keeps the doctor away? Although an apple has a low vitamin C content, it has antioxidants and flavonoids which enhances the activity of vitamin C, thereby helping to lower the risk of colon cancer, heart attack and stroke.

STRAWBERRY:Protective Fruit. Strawberries have the highest total antioxidant power among major fruits and protect the body from cancer-causing, blood vessel-clogging free radicals.

EATING 2 – 4 ORANGES a day may help keep colds away, lower cholesterol, prevent and dissolve kidney stones, and reduce the risk of colon cancer.

WATERMELON:Coolest thirst quencher. Composed of 92% water, it is also packed with a giant dose of glutathione, which helps boost our immune system. Also a key source of lycopene, the cancer-fighting oxidant. Also found in watermelon: Vitamin C and Potassium.

GUAVA & PAPAYA:Top awards for vitamin C. They are the clear winners for their high vitamin C content. Guava is also rich in fiber, which helps prevent constipation. Papaya is rich in carotene, good for your eyes.

Endquote. Also, canned fruit juice is void of a LOT of the natural vitamins and minerals. So is cooked fruit, because it has been under heat. Growing your own fruit is great, because you can be sure they are wholesome. We have lots of apple trees, and also plum and pear. I think we might have a sour cherry, too…no regular cherries, though. Minnesota isn’t good for that We’re also growing strawberries this year. Unfortunately, we won’t have a prime harvest of them until next year, because if you want your plants to thrive, you have to pluck off all of the strawberry flowers the first year.

Hopefully, you have learned a few new things about fruit from this post!

- Ellyn

June 14, 2010