1. People need vitamins
"Duh," you say. Of course vitamins are essential to health--most of us have been taking our vitamins since we watched cartoons on Saturday mornings. But evolutionary studies show that humans have always gotten their vitamins from fruit, unlike other species (e.g. dogs) that can produce vitamins such as A and C internally. So an apple a day--along with berries, melons, citrus, avocados and tomatoes, among hundreds of others--are the most natural means of getting vitamins.
2. The difference between whole fruit and vitamins in pills
The American Dietetic Association holds that "the best nutritional strategy for promoting optimal health and reducing the risk of chronic disease is to wisely choose a wide variety of foods," which includes whole fruits and vegetables. Various respected organizations, including the Center for Science in the Public Interest, warn that marketing claims from vitamin manufacturers are largely unregulated and unsubstantiated, and need to be considered in the broader context of the individual's age, gender, general health and the prescriptions he or she may be taking. While both organizations allow room for individual supplementation and even broad-based fortification in foods, they urge consumption of vitamins in fruits and vegetables as the primary strategy.
3. Beyond vitamins in fruits: Other micronutrients and fiber
"Vital minerals," the original name for vitamins, are only the beginning of what fruits can deliver. The apple illustrates this: It contains vitamins A, C and E, but also measurable amounts of folate, potassium, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, selenium and smaller amounts of iron, manganese, copper and zinc. The fiber and pectin in and under the peels perform their own function by ushering waste and heavy metals out of the body. Children in the Ukraine, raised in the fallout zones around the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, have effectively been fed purified pectin from milled dry apples to reduce the effects of environmental toxins.
4. Fresh versus juiced, canned or frozen
Truly fresh fruit should be superior to juiced, frozen and canned versions for vitamin content. But modern food distribution systems bring us fruit from the ends of the earth, which we eat weeks after harvest. Particularly during winter months, there is some vitamin degradation that occurs in that process. To the rescue: Research at the University of Illinois (Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, B. Klein, et al.), found that vitamins in fruits and vegetables are retained to a greater degree than much of what is sold as fresh. So, it is not necessarily a compromise to eat lightly processed fruit. Among beverages, look for pulpy varieties because the retained fiber most often means improved nutritional content.
5. Go for color
James A. Joseph, Ph.D., coauthor of The Color Code (2002), says "my most recent work with blueberries has made me a believer in pigment power. The natural compounds that make blueberries blue or spinach green are powerful allies in the fight against aging."
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