The American Heart Association recommends fruit as part of an overall healthy eating plan. Eating a variety of fruits along with vegetables, whole grains, and lean protein sources will help to control body weight and lower blood pressure.
The Cardiac Diet
A cardiac diet is a diet plan that is meant to decrease the risks of heart disease. Some nutrients found in fruit that specifically influence heart health include sodium, dietary saturated fat, potassium and fiber. Sodium increases blood pressure leading to hypertension. Saturated fat increases LDL cholesterol stores, which increases overall cholesterol level. Potassium is believed to decrease symptoms of hypertension and fiber can help lower overall blood cholesterol.
Fruit
The American Heart Association recommends eating fruits and vegetables to reduce hypertension. The United States Department of Agriculture, or USDA, recommends consuming one to two cups of fruit per day. While fruits are healthy and highly recommended, it is best to eat every food group in moderation and not consistently exceed the USDA's recommendations. Many fruits are higher in fiber and potassium, but some other fruits contain saturated fat. Certain methods of fruit processing can negatively influence the nutrient content.
Nutrients
Fruits are highly recommended for the cardiac diet due to their high quality of essential vitamins, minerals and fiber and low quantity of calories. Fruits highest in potassium include bananas, apricots, melon, kiwi, oranges, raisins and watermelon. The high fiber fruits contain between 3 to 5g of fiber per whole fresh fruit. High fiber fruits include apples, pears, kiwi, bananas, strawberries, blueberries, orange, pears and prunes. Dried fruits tend to be higher in fiber per serving.
Processing
Processing fruits changes the nutrient content. Canned fruit always contains sodium as a preservative. Canned fruits may be canned in lite syrup, heavy syrup or its own syrup. The heavier the syrup the more added sugar and calories there are per serving. If canned fruit is the only option, it's best to choose fruit in its own syrup. Frozen fruit is often fresh fruit with minimum processing and only additive being the ice used to freeze it. It is best to choose fresh and frozen fruit rather than canned fruit.
Fruits Containing Fat
Most fruits contain no saturated fat. It is almost difficult to find fruits to avoid due to a high fat content. Tropical fruits, such as coconut and palm kernal are only recommended in moderation due to their high saturated fat content. The most popular form of palm kernal consumed in the United States is found in palm kernal oil. Coconut oils and palm kernal oils are concentrate sources of saturated fats from these fruits.
References
- The American Heart Association
- "Understanding Nutrition"; Ellie Rady Rolfes; 2004
- USDA MyPyramid
