Fruit! We know we should eat it, but do we eat enough and why should we eat it?
Here are my top 5 reasons:
1. They are full of essential nutrients that your body needs, (Stay Healthy, Feel Better)
2. They help with sugar cravings (Great if you have a sweet tooth!)
3. They provide great dietary fibre (Keep that Bowel healthy!)
4. Great for energy before a workout. (Who needs a pre-workout when you have fruit!)
5. They taste great! (let's not forget that one!)
How much to eat?
Get 2-3 A Day fruit portions
Small-sized fresh fruit
A portion is 2 or more small fruit – for example, 2 plums, 2 satsumas, 2 kiwi fruit, 3 apricots, 6 lychees, 7 strawberries or 14 cherries.
Medium-sized fresh fruit
A portion is 1 piece of fruit, such as 1 apple, banana, pear, orange or nectarine.
Large fresh fruit
A portion is half a grapefruit, 1 slice of papaya, 1 slice of melon (5cm slice), 1 large slice of pineapple or 2 slices of mango (5cm slices).
Dried fruit
A portion of dried fruit is around 30g. This is about 1 heaped tablespoon of raisins, currants or sultanas, 1 tablespoon of mixed fruit, 2 figs, 3 prunes or 1 handful of dried banana chips.
But dried fruit can be high in sugar and can be bad for your teeth.
Try to swap dried fruit for fresh fruit, especially between meals.
To reduce the risk of tooth decay, dried fruit is best enjoyed as part of a meal – as dessert, for example, not as a between meal snack.
Tinned or canned fruit
A portion is roughly the same quantity of fruit that you would eat for a fresh portion, such as 2 pear or peach halves, 6 apricot halves or 8 segments of tinned grapefruit.
Choose fruit canned in natural juice, rather than syrup.
Make sure to aim for a variety of fruits to get the full range of benefits! I hope you can learn to love fruit as much as I do! But don’t forget about those veggies!
Stay Fresh
Coach Ryan
Information valid until next review 18 September 2021