Is Fruit Important To Your Diet?

Fruits offer a collection of health benefits because of their nutritional value and other substances that can prevent certain types of chronic diseases. Some nutrients are found primarily in fruits, making their addition to your diet a vital part of a healthy lifestyle. Eating fruit is preferable to getting your nutrition in pill form, because most fruits contain a high amount of fiber. One medium apple contains nearly 5 g of fiber. The Harvard School of Public Health recommends that you consume at least 20 g of fiber each day from food.

Nutritional Value

Fruits provide several essential vitamins and minerals. They offer an excellent source of vitamins A, C, B-1 and B-2. Fruits also contain healthy amounts of potassium, iron and phosphorus. A 1-cup serving of dates, for example, provides nearly 25 percent of the recommended daily allowance for potassium. This mineral is required for proper nervous system function and muscle contraction. The human body devotes up to 40 percent of its energy at rest toward maintaining the balance of sodium and potassium within its cells, according to the Linus Pauling Institute. This illustrates the importance of potassium.

Antioxidants

Fruits also provide other health benefits due to their antioxidant content. Normal chemical activity in your body produces cell-damaging substances called free radicals. The antioxidants in fruits can block the harmful effects of free radicals, which have been associated with several chronic health conditions such as cancer and heart disease.

Dietary Fiber

While you may get the nutrients fruits provide by taking a multivitamin every day, you cannot replace the fiber that they contain. Dietary fiber will help you maintain normal intestinal function. Despite their sugar content, many fruits have a low glycemic index, or GI. The GI measures how quickly sugar enters the bloodstream. Because of their high fiber content, low-GI fruits help stabilize your blood sugar and keep you feeling full longer.

Getting Enough Fruit

With the wide variety of fruits available, you'll have no trouble finding a few that you enjoy. You may also find new varieties showing up in the marketplace, adding to your choices. The honeycrisp apple, for example, is a relatively new variety developed by the University of Minnesota. If you find that fruit is too expensive for your budget, add frozen or canned varieties to your diet instead. Fruit is picked at peak ripeness and packaged, ensuring good flavor. Include fruit with every meal; as examples, add berries to yogurt for breakfast or enjoy an evening dinner of pork tenderloin sauteed with pears. Fruits make an excellent dessert because of their higher nutritional value than sweetened foods.