Fruits: Health Benefits, Nutrition Facts and Medicinal Uses with Side Effects.

Fruits play an important role in everyday life because they are a natural source of essential vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients. Eating a variety of fruits helps to ensure that your body is getting the nutrients it needs to maintain good health. Fruits are also a great snack food and can help to curb hunger and cravings between meals. Additionally, the fiber found in fruits helps to keep your digestive system healthy and regular, and some fruits such as apples, oranges, and berries are rich in antioxidants that can help to protect your body from the damaging effects of free radicals.

Delicious Ways to Get Your Daily Dose of Fruits

The correct way to eat fruit is to wash it before eating. Make sure to remove any dirt or bacteria that may be on the surface of the fruit. You can eat fruit by itself, or with a meal. If you’re eating a whole fruit, such as an apple, you should cut it into slices or cubes so that it’s easier to eat. You can also blend or juice fruits for a healthier option. There is no specific time that is ideal for eating fruits. It is beneficial to eat fruit as part of a balanced and healthy diet at any time of day. Fruits can be enjoyed as part of breakfast, lunch, dinner, and as snacks throughout the day.

Top Healthiest Fruits to Eat for Maximum Benefits

  • Apple: Apples are good to treat body odor, burns, cholesterol, constipation, dandruff, dental problems, diarrhea, gallstones, infection, insect bites, and itching. Some people believe that, when an apple is cut crosswise, it reveals a pentagram, which is an ancient symbol of magic. Apple is a juicy and crunchy fruit that is full of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. It is a popular snack and can be eaten raw or cooked in many dishes. Apples are a good source of fiber, which helps to reduce the risk of heart disease and other health issues. They are also low in calories and can help to promote weight loss.
  • Acai Berry: Acai is dark purple berry with single inedible seed. Because of the special handling required for this fruit, you may never see fresh or whole frozen açaí berries in supermarket. Acai Berry is a small, dark purple fruit native to the Amazon rainforest. It is packed with antioxidants, vitamins and minerals, and has been linked to a number of health benefits, including improved heart health, improved digestion and weight loss. It is often consumed as a juice or powder and may also be found in some health food stores.
  • Amla: Amla is an ingredient of a large number of Indian Ayurvedic preparations. The important ones, in which amla is the main ingredient are: Amalaki Rasayana, Triphala, and Chavanprasha. According to Ayurveda, it is sour but not acidic like other fruits. This herb is packed with antioxidants that can help protect the body from free radical damage. It is also believed to help boost the immune system and improve digestion. Amla, also known as Indian gooseberry, is a small, round fruit native to India. It is a rich source of Vitamin C and other antioxidants, making it a popular home remedy for a variety of ailments. Amla has been used in Ayurvedic medicine for centuries and is believed to help reduce inflammation, improve skin health, and boost immunity.
  • Banana: Bananas are native, in various forms, from India and Burma through the Malay Archipelago to New Guinea, Australia, Samoa and tropical Africa. It’s universally cultivated in tropical regions. Bananas are a type of fruit that is rich in nutrients and packed with health benefits. They are high in potassium, magnesium, and fiber, and are a good source of vitamins C, A, and B6. Bananas are also a low-calorie snack, making them a great addition to any diet.
  • Bilberry: Same as the blueberry, only more noted for its medicinal uses. Fruit can be either blue-black or red. Both kinds of blueberries are more closely related to the cranberry.
  • Blueberry: Bilberry and blueberry, both are different. Bilberry is blue all the way through, blueberry’s inner fruit is white. Blueberry is native to North America. The berry has a flared crown and is deep purplish blue. Blueberries are a type of berry that has a sweet-tart flavor and a blue-purple hue. They are a popular snack and ingredient in baking, and they are packed with vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. Blueberries are low in calories, high in fiber, and may have several health benefits, including reducing cholesterol and risk of heart disease.
  • Cherry: Cherry teaches you how to be young at heart. It attract love, expand your spiritual awareness, and increase fertility. Cherries contain high levels of melatonin, which helps improve sleep, builds up the immune system, and helps improve the functioning of the heart. Cherry is a type of tree that produces a sweet and tart fruit. The fruit can be eaten raw or used in desserts, jams, and other recipes. Cherries are rich in vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, making them beneficial for health.
  • Chinese Water Chestnut: Studies done in Europe found that horse chestnut helps to increase blood flow, strengthens connective tissue, tightens veins, and decrease redness and inflammation. Water chestnut, also known as Chinese water chestnut, is a type of aquatic plant that is native to Northern India, China, and Southeast Asia. It is closely related to the common chestnut and is widely cultivated for its edible corms and shoots. The corms are used in many Asian dishes, while the shoots can be eaten raw or cooked.
  • Coconut: Coconut water is an excellent food remedy for gastritis. It gives the stomach necessary rest and provides vitamins and minerals. Warm coconut oil mixed with camphor, should be massaged in case of stiff and aching joints. Coconut is a type of fruit and nut that is found in many tropical regions around the world. It is composed of a hard outer shell and a sweet, edible flesh inside. The flesh can be eaten raw, or used to make coconut milk, coconut oil, and various other products. Coconut is a popular ingredient in many dishes and is known for its many health benefits.
  • Cranberry: A well-known household remedy, cranberry is commonly taken for urinary tract problems such as cystitis and urethritis. For kidney stones, drink two 8-ounces glasses of cranberry juice each day. Cranberry is a small, evergreen shrub of the genus Vaccinium, native to North America. It is a tart, red berry that is often eaten in jams, juices, and sauces. Cranberries are rich in antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals, and are known for their potential health benefits, including improved heart health, improved digestion, and reduced risk of urinary tract infections.
  • Custard Apple: Custard apple is traditionally used for curing a variety of ailments such as ulcer, dysentery, anti ovulatory, hair problems, burning sensation, hysteria and fainting spells. Custard Apple, also known as sharifa, is a tropical fruit native to Central and South America. It is a member of the Annonaceae family, and its scientific name is Annona squamosa. The fruit has a unique, sweet-tart taste and is often eaten raw as a snack. Its flesh is soft and creamy, and it is often used in desserts or made into jams.
  • Dragon Fruit: Red dragon fruits are native to Mexico, central America and Antilles. In Mexico they are known as Pitahaya. Yellow pitayas are native to northern south America. Dragon fruit is a tropical fruit native to Central America and South America. It is also known as pitaya or pitahaya and is a member of the cactus family. The fruit has a bright pink or yellow skin and white flesh with small, edible black seeds. It has a sweet, mild flavor and is often eaten fresh, added to smoothies, or used in desserts.
  • Fig: Figs are restorative and the best fruit that can be taken by those who are brought low by long sickness. The juice of fresh figs is a traditional home remedy for kidney stones. Fig is a plant-based software development tool used to create applications and components. It is a cross-platform tool and can be used to build and deploy applications on Linux, Windows, Mac, and other platforms. It provides an easy way to define, build, and share components, allowing developers to compose complex applications quickly.
  • Goji Berries: Chinese wolfberry are good tasting, sweet, reddish dried berries from Tibet and China. Gojis can be eaten whole alone and can be used in cooking. Goji berries are a type of superfood native to China. They are packed with antioxidants, vitamins, minerals and amino acids. Goji berries are also high in fiber and have anti-inflammatory properties. They are often used in juices and smoothies, as well as in teas, soups and salads.
  • Grapes: Traditionally, grapes are used to cool fevers and, as part of a grape fast, promote tissue cleansing. Grape seed extract is, as the name implies, the extract of grape seeds. Grapes are a type of fruit that grow in clusters on vines. They have a sweet, juicy flavor and can be eaten fresh, dried, or used to make wine and other products. Grapes are a rich source of antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals that can help support the immune system, reduce inflammation, and protect against chronic diseases.
  • Grapefruit: Pink grapefruit is rich in vitamin A, and acts as a natural antioxidant. Pink grapefruit contains lycopene which has antioxidant properties are helpful in cancer prevention and treatment. Grapefruit is a citrus fruit that is a hybrid of the sweet orange and the pomelo. It is often large and has a sweet-tart flavor. It is rich in vitamins and minerals and is a good source of dietary fiber. Grapefruit is widely consumed and is used in many recipes.
  • Guava: Guavas are small, thin-skinned tropical fruits. They are often processed into jellies, jams and preserves, but they can also be consumed fresh. The fruits are round to pear-shaped, usually less than 3 inches in diameter, with green or bright-yellow skins; some have a reddish blush. Guava is a tropical fruit that is native to Central and South America. It has a sweet and slightly tart taste and is often used in desserts and smoothies. It is also a good source of dietary fiber, vitamins, and minerals. Guava has a variety of health benefits, including improved digestion, lowered blood sugar levels, and improved immunity.
  • Jackfruit: Jackfruit (vegetable meat) is a fleshy fiber fruit. It is common fruit in southwestern region of the country apart from the neighboring countries like Shri Lanka and Bangladesh. It is a tropical fruit which is so big in size that it can feed a large family. Jackfruit is a large tropical fruit native to India and grown in many tropical and subtropical countries. It is the largest tree-borne fruit in the world, with some fruits reaching over 50 pounds in weight. The flesh of the jackfruit is sweet and starchy. It is often used as a meat substitute in vegetarian dishes, as the texture and flavor is similar to pulled pork. Jackfruit is a good source of fiber, vitamin C, and other essential nutrients.
  • Jambul: It is regarded in traditional medicine as a specific against diabetes because of its effect on the pancreas. The fruits as such, the seeds and fruit juice are all useful in the treatment of this disease.
  • Jojoba: Indian jujube is found both wild and cultivated throughout the greater part of India, ascending to an altitude of about 1500m in the Himalayas. For dry hair jojoba oil and avocado makes excellent effect. Jojoba is a shrub native to the Sonoran Desert in the southwestern United States and Mexico. It is the source of an oil that is used as a natural moisturizer in many cosmetic and beauty products. Jojoba oil is rich in vitamins, minerals, and fatty acids that are beneficial for skin health. It is also known to help reduce inflammation, acne, and redness.
  • Kiwifruit: Although kiwifruit originated from China, it has been developed commercially in New Zealand, and subsequently elsewhere. New Zealand is now the world leader in kiwi production and has adopted this fruit as a national symbol. It is a small, smooth-skinned fruit with a sweet-tart flavor. It is native to China, where it is known as mihou tao, and is also found in New Zealand, where it is known as kiwifruit. The two most common varieties are the fuzzy brown-skinned variety and the smooth green-skinned variety. Kiwifruit is packed with nutrients, including vitamins C, E and K, and is a good source of dietary fiber.
  • Kokum: It is about two inches in diameter, with a thin, smooth, yellowish rind and a yellow, succulent, sweet pulp. The fruit is of an exceedingly sharp but pleasant acid and the aril, or pulp, is by far the most palatable part.
  • Lychee: Eating lychee frequently is good for people with heart palpitation. Litchi seeds are prescribed in Malaya for neurological disorders and orchitis. Nutrition facts, health benefits, adverse effects and an in-depth look at the science behind lychees.
  • Mango: In India, mango is known as king of fruit. All parts of the mango plant are used in traditional South Asian medicine, but the fruits are most important. Mangoes are high in beta carotene, which gives a yellowish-orange color to them.
  • Noni: Noni is a Tahitian and Hawaiian fruit. Noni has been traditionally used as food and medicine for a wide range of medical conditions. Wrapping noni leaves around affected areas can cure arthritis, sore and swollen joints, stomachache and headache.
  • Olive: The olive is a handsome, long-lived, evergreen, subtropical tree, and has been cultivated for at least 4,000 years for its edible fruit and valuable oil. Olives are rich source of isoleucine, vitamin E.
  • Orange: Orange fruit contains calcium, sodium, vitamin C, citric acid. In the treatment of measles, the most valuable food is the orange. The orange is effective food remedy in chronic indigestion.
  • Papaya: A sweet-tasting fruit and native to tropical America, papaya while unripe contains digestive enzymes that complement the body’s own digestive juices.
  • Peach: Peaches originated in China several thousand years ago and were venerated as fruits of immorality. Not only fruit but leaves and nark also useful to make many excellent home remedies.
  • Pear: Pear is a delicate, aristocratic, temperate zone fruit. America’s most widely grown pear, the Bartlett, is bell-shaped, with yellow skin and a red blush when ripe.
  • Persimmon: Persimmon is native to China, where it has been cultivated for centuries. It spread to Korea and Japan, where it is popular with name “kaki”.
  • Pineapple: These plump, heavy fruits with fresh, green crown leaves, emit a fragrant aroma and have a very slight separation of the eyes or pips. Pineapples bear fruit on a long stalk after a year and a half.
  • Pomegranate: Recent research has focused on pomegranate juice as a preventative for prostate and colon cancer, and as a support for a healthy heart and circulation. Pomegranate juice is rich in iron. It can be used as blood builder, to correct drowsiness and to fight fatigue due to anemia.
  • Prune: Prunes are the firm-fleshed variety of plums with a high enough sugar content to permit drying without fermentation around the pit. Dried plum fruit or prunes are used as laxative and also as stomachic.
  • Sapodilla: Chikoo is small egg shaped brown in color. Unripe fruit is hard and with high latex where as ripe cheeku is soft and with less latex. Sapodilla is native to tropical America. In India, apart from medicinal uses, chiku is used in some reference.
  • Strawberries: Strawberry is a perennial plant with rooting runners that usually bears red fruit once it is developed. Everyone love strawberries just for the eating experience and the many pleasures of their color, fragrance, and taste.
  • Watermelon: It is a large oblong or roundish fruit of a vine of the cucumber family. It has a hard green or white rind, and a pink or red pulp with a copious sweet juice. Watermelon fruit is an excellent source of antioxidant vitamin C and provitamin A.
  • Wood Apple: Wood apple is different from Bael Fruit. Wood apple It has cooling, astringent and tonic properties and is used as a stomachic. Wood apple juice is a good health drink and provides a rich source of antioxidants.

How to Choose Perfect Fruit for Healthy Life?

  • Choose fruits that are high in fiber. Fruits that are high in fiber help to keep the digestive system healthy, regulate blood sugar levels, and lower cholesterol. Examples include apples, oranges, pears, raspberries, and prunes.
  • Look for fruits high in vitamin C. Vitamin C helps to boost the immune system and helps to protect the body from infection. Examples include oranges, grapefruits, kiwifruit, strawberries, and papayas.
  • Choose fruits high in antioxidants. Antioxidants help to protect the body from damage caused by free radicals. Examples include blueberries, blackberries, cranberries, and acai berries.
  • Opt for fruits with low sugar content. Fruits that are high in sugar can contribute to weight gain and can raise blood sugar levels. Examples include apples, pears, and strawberries.
  • Choose fruits that are in season. Fruits that are in season are generally fresher and more nutrient-dense than those that are out of season.

Benefits of Eating Fruits: How Fruits Improve Your Health?

  1. Improved Digestion: Fruits are an excellent source of dietary fiber, which helps to keep your digestive system healthy and functioning properly. Eating fiber-rich fruits helps to prevent constipation, maintain regularity and also to reduce the risk of colon cancer.
  2. Boosts Immunity: Eating a variety of fruits provides your body with essential vitamins and minerals that help to boost your immune system and protect against infections and illnesses.
  3. Heart Health: Fruits are packed with antioxidants and other beneficial compounds that can reduce inflammation and improve heart health. Eating a diet rich in fruits has been linked to a lower risk of heart disease, stroke and other cardiovascular diseases.
  4. Weight Loss: Fruits are naturally low in calories and fat, and they are also high in fiber and water. Eating a diet rich in fruits can help you to feel full for longer, which can help to reduce your overall calorie intake and promote weight loss.
  5. Improved Skin Health: Fruits are a source of several vitamins and minerals that can help to keep your skin healthy. Eating a diet rich in fruits can help to reduce inflammation, improve moisture levels and even reduce wrinkles.

What are Different Types of Fruits?

  • Citrus fruits: oranges, grapefruits, lemons, limes
  • Stone fruits: peaches, plums, apricots, cherries
  • Melons: watermelons, honeydews, cantaloupes
  • Berries: strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries
  • Tropical fruits: pineapples, mangoes, papayas, kiwis 
  • Apples and pears
  • Grapes
  • Figs
  • Avocados
  • Bananas

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