The human body is a wonderfully complex organism that needs the right fuel to operate at peak efficiency.
But this, in itself, is not as easy as it sounds.
The "right" fuel is derived from an impressive array of available foods that should be consumed in the right portions, and in the right amounts every day.
There is an entire discipline, nutrition, devoted to the study of the materials required (food) to support life.
Not surprisingly this discipline has found that many ailments can be reduce, or completely prevented by just eating a "healthy diet".
A critical part of this healthy diet is made up of fruit and vegetables and some studies have shown that 90% of Americans do not consume the recommended about of fruits and vegetables per day.
So how much should we be eating each day? The answer to that question depends very much on your individual size, gender, weight, and calorie requirements.
Generally speaking, we should be eating between 5 and 9 servings per day! For specific recommendations about what YOU need, visit "My Pyramid.
gov".
This is a site operated by the USDA and will give you recommendations on how much of everything you should eat based on your individual needs.
Regardless of what the nutritionists recommend, there are some people who cannot get enough fruit.
In fact, they refuse to eat anything other than fruit.
The practice is known as "fruitarianism" and the adherents call themselves "fruitarians".
Indeed some anthropologists claim the evidence is there to prove that our earliest ancestors ate only fruit until the onset of the ice age destroyed most of the plants they depended on for food and forced the introduction of meat into their diets.
On the downside of such a diet, a strict fruitarian diet can easily cause deficiencies in many nutrients such as iron, vitamin D, vitamin B12, and calcium.
So the rule seems to be that, regardless of what we ate before the ice age, fruit is a necessary, if often overlooked part of our diet.
Fruits are loaded with vitamin C, minerals, dietary fiber, and phytonutrients.
These are chemical compounds that are naturally occurring in plants.
Probably the best known of these compounds is beta-carotene.
Current research is suggesting that these compounds may have beneficial medicinal effects on may diseases like prostate cancer and cardiovascular disease.
Other preliminary studies have suggested that having the recommended amount of fruits and vegetables in your diet regularly will help reduce your risk of some types of cancer and Alzheimer's disease.
When I started researching this piece I found that much of what I thought I knew about fiber was wrong.
I had thought of fiber much like tiny threads.
Instead, I found that dietary fiber is certainly not that.
Instead it is the indigestible part of plant food that pushes food through the digestive system.
Good fruit sources of fiber include berries, plums, bananas, apples, and pears.
Vegetables high in fiber include broccoli, onions, carrots, and potatoes.
There is also research that quantifies that those who eat fruit daily live longer than those who do not.
A 17 year study in England showed that those who ate fruit and vegetables daily had a death rate about one half that of the general population.
But this, in itself, is not as easy as it sounds.
The "right" fuel is derived from an impressive array of available foods that should be consumed in the right portions, and in the right amounts every day.
There is an entire discipline, nutrition, devoted to the study of the materials required (food) to support life.
Not surprisingly this discipline has found that many ailments can be reduce, or completely prevented by just eating a "healthy diet".
A critical part of this healthy diet is made up of fruit and vegetables and some studies have shown that 90% of Americans do not consume the recommended about of fruits and vegetables per day.
So how much should we be eating each day? The answer to that question depends very much on your individual size, gender, weight, and calorie requirements.
Generally speaking, we should be eating between 5 and 9 servings per day! For specific recommendations about what YOU need, visit "My Pyramid.
gov".
This is a site operated by the USDA and will give you recommendations on how much of everything you should eat based on your individual needs.
Regardless of what the nutritionists recommend, there are some people who cannot get enough fruit.
In fact, they refuse to eat anything other than fruit.
The practice is known as "fruitarianism" and the adherents call themselves "fruitarians".
Indeed some anthropologists claim the evidence is there to prove that our earliest ancestors ate only fruit until the onset of the ice age destroyed most of the plants they depended on for food and forced the introduction of meat into their diets.
On the downside of such a diet, a strict fruitarian diet can easily cause deficiencies in many nutrients such as iron, vitamin D, vitamin B12, and calcium.
So the rule seems to be that, regardless of what we ate before the ice age, fruit is a necessary, if often overlooked part of our diet.
Fruits are loaded with vitamin C, minerals, dietary fiber, and phytonutrients.
These are chemical compounds that are naturally occurring in plants.
Probably the best known of these compounds is beta-carotene.
Current research is suggesting that these compounds may have beneficial medicinal effects on may diseases like prostate cancer and cardiovascular disease.
Other preliminary studies have suggested that having the recommended amount of fruits and vegetables in your diet regularly will help reduce your risk of some types of cancer and Alzheimer's disease.
When I started researching this piece I found that much of what I thought I knew about fiber was wrong.
I had thought of fiber much like tiny threads.
Instead, I found that dietary fiber is certainly not that.
Instead it is the indigestible part of plant food that pushes food through the digestive system.
Good fruit sources of fiber include berries, plums, bananas, apples, and pears.
Vegetables high in fiber include broccoli, onions, carrots, and potatoes.
There is also research that quantifies that those who eat fruit daily live longer than those who do not.
A 17 year study in England showed that those who ate fruit and vegetables daily had a death rate about one half that of the general population.
Source...