Fruit holds essential vitamins and minerals that keep you alive. They can contain vitamin C to keep you from getting sick, antioxidants that may prevent certain problems such as heart disease, and most of all, they're healthy for you. But when it comes to nutrients, not all fruit is the same.
Apricots
Apricots are filled with vitamin A -- maintains skin, hair and eye health -- and vitamin C, a good boost for your immune system. They are also generous in minerals like iron, calcium, fiber and zinc. Apricots are healthy either dehydrated or eaten raw.
Berries
Berries of all sorts of incredibly healthy. Blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, cranberries and acai berries are a few examples. They're rich in fiber -- a supporter of your digestive tract -- and can make you feel full fast. Berries are also notorious for their antioxidant properties. Antioxidants in particular, are one of nature's miracle substances, as they fight away free radicals and inflammation. Inflammation can lead to problems such as arthritis, heart disease, diabetes, depression and certain diseases and cancers. Free radicals can be just as bad, as they are components that exhaust your body and injure your DNA, increasing as you age. Director of the Neuroscience Lab of the United States Department of Agriculture Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging, James Joseph, explains that eating berries -- raw, frozen or dried -- is a powerful way to prevent free radicals and inflammation.
Cantaloupe
Cantaloupe, also called muskmelon, is rich in B complex vitamins, vitamin C, fiber and antioxidants. It also contains potassium which may help to lower high blood pressure.
Guava
The University of North Florida lists guava as their number one healthiest fruit. With all its nutrients, it's no wonder why. Guava has more vitamin C than the orange, and with no cholesterol and its small amount of carbohydrates, it may help people who want to lose weight. This fruit holds a generous amount of dietary fiber, which is a plus not only for your digestive system, but fiber naturally gets rid of toxic wastes in the intestines that could otherwise prove harmful. Guava has high water content, another way to clean out your intestines.
Kiwi
Kiwi offers more vitamin C than oranges. It's also rich in fiber, and vitamins A and E, two powerful antioxidants.
Watermelon
Watermelon is full of lycopene, a phytochemical. Most fruits don't contain lycopene, so this is somewhat of a rarity and a gem in the nutrition world. Lycopene is what colors watermelon red. It's a strong antioxidant that combats against free radicals and chemicals that respond to your cells, which in turn results in injured and destroyed cells. In 2011, the Institute of Biochemistry and Clinical Biochemistry of the University of Rome, Italy confirmed that lycopene may even help to reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease.
References
- Arthritis Today: The Benefits of Berries
- Fruits and Veggies More Matters: Apricots: Nutrition
- Fitho: Guava
- University of North Florida: Top 10 Healthiest Fruits
- Nutrient Facts: Kiwi
- "Curr Med Chem"; Lycopene and Cardiovascular Diseases: An Update; A. Mordente, B. Guantario, E. Meucci, A. Silvestrini, E. Lombardi, GE Martorana, B. Giardina, and V. Böhm; 2011
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