How Fruits and Vegetables are important for the diet?

June 6, 2018

The presence of Fruits and vegetables is very important in our daily life.

They contain a huge amount of vitamins and minerals that helps the body to remain healthy.

A huge number vitamins and minerals are contained in fruits and vegetables that are good for the health.

Vitamins include Vitamin A (beta-carotene), Vitamin C and Vitamin E, magnesium, zinc, phosphorus and folic acid. Folic acid helps in reducing blood levels of homo cysteine. It is a substance which is a risk factor for coronary heart disease.

The biggest advantage of having fruits and vegetables is that they are low in fat, salt and sugar. They are the best source of dietary fiber.

Taking fruits and vegetables as a part of our well balanced and regular diet and a healthy and active lifestyle might help us to:

• Reduce obesity and to maintain a healthy weight
• Lower cholesterol
• Lower the blood pressure

Fruits and Vegetables also contain phytochemicals or plant chemicals. These are biologically active substances which help us to protect from certain number of diseases. It is scientifically proven that if we eat lots of fruits and vegetables then there are lower risks of having:

• Type 2 diabetes
• stroke
• Heart or cardiovascular disease- when fruits and vegetables are taken as food instead of taking it as a supplement.
• Cancer- probability of having some forms of cancer later in the life.
• High blood pressure or Hypertension.

Fruits are the sweet, fleshy and edible part of a plant and can be eaten raw or sometimes cooked.

There are a wide variety of colours and flavours available. The common types of fruits which are readily available are:

• Apples and pears
• citrus fruits – oranges, grapefruits
• stone fruits- peaches, plums
• Tropical and exotic- bananas, mangoes
• Berries- strawberries, kiwifruit
• Melons- watermelon, rockmelon
• Tomatoes and avocados

There are also various types of vegetables available nowadays which are classified according to their biological families such as:

• Leafy green- lettuce, spinach
• Cruciferous- cabbage, cauliflower
• Marrow- pumpkin, cucumber
• root- potato, yam
• edible plant system- celery and asparagus
• Allium- onion, garlic