What Are the Best Healthy Fruits?

The best healthy fruits are those in season. Now is the time to eat fruit freshly picked and in its prime. Of course we can eat fruit out of season if we want to. There is no problem in getting apples in April, strawberries in October or plums in May. Your superstore will be happy to help. But the remarkable thing is not that we can obtain out of season fruit but that anybody wants to eat it. The produce will have been stored long term or shipped half way round the world. People interested in carbon footprints should be ashamed of themselves for buying fruit out of season. But a good reason for not eating apples in April or plums in May is that they taste like cardboard – if they taste like anything at all. For the best tasting fruit buy organic local produce in season, and if you have a farmer’s market near you that is a good place to find it.

    What are the best healthy fruits? These are five good ones.

    Apples. High on the list of best healthy fruits, they contain fibre and antioxidants. Eating apples can help reduce blood pressure and fight ‘bad’ cholesterol, Type2 diabetes, prostate cancer and asthma. A medium sized apple contains about 80 calories.

    Pears. Good for fibre – one pear contains 20 percent of your daily fibre needs. Pears also contain pectin which lowers ‘bad’ cholesterol. A medium sized pear contains about 95 calories.

    Blackberries. These are rich in fibre and the antioxidant, anthocyanin which helps reduce the risk of stroke and some cancers. One cup contains about 75 calories.

     Plums. Contain plenty of fibre and equal or more antioxidants and phytonutrients than blueberries – another well known healthy fruit.

Plums are low in calories – 66g of plums contains about 35 calories.

Purple grapes. These are high in fibre and antioxydants. Grape skins and seeds contain resveratrol which is good for heart health. Resveratrol also occurs in red wine, which is a good reason for drinking it. Do not eat too many grapes. They are high in sugar and will not help a weight loss program. But a handful a day will do you a lot of good. 150g of grapes contains about 100 calories.

If you want to make sure your five best healthy fruits are really safe to eat wash their skins. Most organic fruit is grown with the minimum of pesticides but there may be a residual amount on some fruit, particularly grapes which are imported into colder countries. Just fill a spray bottle with equal parts of white vinegar and water. Spray the fruit, rub and rinse. For soft skinned fruits like grapes fill a bowl with equal parts white vinegar and water, soak for 1-2 minutes and rinse. Alternatively Veggi-Wash is a good product which does the same job.

So there you have the best healthy fruits to eat in the fall. There are, of course, plenty of others and so long as you eat a portion of fruit each day you will go a long way to keeping fit and losing weight. Enjoy.