Fruits: The Good and Bad of eating them!
"An Apple a Day Keeps the Doctor Away"
Really? A lot of us know that eating fruits is healthy and keep us fit. But the reality is far from the truth. Fruits are definitely useful for us, but unless we know certain rules, the fruits can really destroy our health
Eating Fruits the Right Way
Fruits have a lot of water, sugar, fiber and complex carbohydrates that are the essence of our fitness. But if certain rules of eating fruit are not followed, it can turn deadly.
RULE No. 1 The Time
The time of eating fruit in a day is extremely important. Fruits ideally need to be consumed on an empty stomach as these are absorbed quite well from the stomach. Fruits should never be consumed after food as the body tends to digest the food eaten first and as fruits tend to decompose faster they begin to rot in the stomach. What exactly does rotting mean? When a fruit ripens, it gives off ethylene gas. Different fruits give off different amounts of ethylene gas. Fruits like apples give off a lot of ethylene gas while berries give off less ethylene gas. These gases can affect the rotting of the fruit and also the other food consumed. Therefore, food should be eaten on an empty stomach to reap the maximum benefits. If not possible, at least a 30 minute window must be present before food to consume fruit.
However, a word of caution for people who have gastritis and stomach ulcers, be careful about acidity to fruit consumption
Rule No. 2 Which fruit
Fundamentally, fruits are sweet and contain natural sweeteners like glucose and fructose. Different fruits contain different amount of fiber and water content. More importantly, fruits also have a significant amount of phytonutrients, which are chemicals produced by the fruit like flavonoids, antioxidants, etc.
Some of the key fruits and their benefits are;
FRUIT FLAVANOID EFFECTS
Conclusion
Therefore, we need to understand that not everything natural ia always good. We need to be aware of what, when and how much to consume. Hope this article helps you rediscover the love for fruits!
Till next time,
Cheers
Krishnaraj
Bangalore Health
Email: bangalorehealth1@gmail.com
www.facebook.com/bangalorehealth
Really? A lot of us know that eating fruits is healthy and keep us fit. But the reality is far from the truth. Fruits are definitely useful for us, but unless we know certain rules, the fruits can really destroy our health
Eating Fruits the Right Way
Fruits have a lot of water, sugar, fiber and complex carbohydrates that are the essence of our fitness. But if certain rules of eating fruit are not followed, it can turn deadly.
RULE No. 1 The Time
The time of eating fruit in a day is extremely important. Fruits ideally need to be consumed on an empty stomach as these are absorbed quite well from the stomach. Fruits should never be consumed after food as the body tends to digest the food eaten first and as fruits tend to decompose faster they begin to rot in the stomach. What exactly does rotting mean? When a fruit ripens, it gives off ethylene gas. Different fruits give off different amounts of ethylene gas. Fruits like apples give off a lot of ethylene gas while berries give off less ethylene gas. These gases can affect the rotting of the fruit and also the other food consumed. Therefore, food should be eaten on an empty stomach to reap the maximum benefits. If not possible, at least a 30 minute window must be present before food to consume fruit.
However, a word of caution for people who have gastritis and stomach ulcers, be careful about acidity to fruit consumption
Rule No. 2 Which fruit
Fundamentally, fruits are sweet and contain natural sweeteners like glucose and fructose. Different fruits contain different amount of fiber and water content. More importantly, fruits also have a significant amount of phytonutrients, which are chemicals produced by the fruit like flavonoids, antioxidants, etc.
Some of the key fruits and their benefits are;
FRUIT FLAVANOID EFFECTS
- Cantaloupe Beta- Carotene Immune system, Vision, Skin and Bone
- Watermelon, Lycopene Prostate, Heart
- Resveratrol Grapes Heart, Lung, Cancer and Inflammation
- Anthocyanidins Berries Blood vessels
Apart from these, fruits have varying amount of glucose and fructose and fiber. The good thing about fruit is the amount fructose consumed is always lesser than a soda like Coke because a whole apple contains about 23 grams of fructose as opposed to 52 grams in Coke. It may not be possible to eat 2 and a half apples at a time and therefore the caloric content would eventually be lesser.
Rule No. 3 Fruits and Medicines
Many of us consume our daily dose of medicines and occasionally some antibiotics for infection. Some fruits need to be avoided when consuming certain medications. The medicines and drugs consumed by us reach a high concentration in the blood and eventually get digested and metabolized by the body using certain enzymes called CYP3A4. Some fruits, like grapefruit, contain chemicals called furanocoumarins, which deactivate the CYP3A4 enzyme. This results in the increasing drug concentrations in our blood as these don't get metabolized and this could prove even fatal in some conditions or may cause serious damage like liver failure, etc. Grapefruit has also been know to interact with many other medications including blood pressure medicines, cholesterol reducing medications (statins), certain antibiotics (erythromycin).
Similarly, berries like cranberry can interfere with blood thinners like warfarin and one needs to be careful with the type of fruit we consume.
Fruits like lychee, if eaten whey are unripe, can cause sudden lowering of blood sugar. So be careful when eating sugar on an empty stomach or for people with pre existing diabetes.
The sugarcane that we innocently consume street-side (juice) or sugarcane stored for a long time can contain a deadly fungus called artbrinium which can cause right from vomiting to death and usually affects children more.
Conclusion
Therefore, we need to understand that not everything natural ia always good. We need to be aware of what, when and how much to consume. Hope this article helps you rediscover the love for fruits!
Till next time,
Cheers
Krishnaraj
Bangalore Health
Email: bangalorehealth1@gmail.com
www.facebook.com/bangalorehealth
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