HEALTH BENEFITS OF FRUITS AND VEGETABLES

NUTRITIONAL BENEFITS OF FRUIT AND VEG​

From a very young age, we’re taught that it’s good for us and that it keeps our bodies healthy and strong. Lucky for us, there is all manner of fruit and vegetables out there, a wide variety that offers unique vitamins and minerals that benefits us in different ways. Some vegetables are believed to reduce your risk of developing cancer in later life, others reduce your risk of cardiac-related illnesses.

But not all fruit and vegetables are created equally, and shouldn’t be prepared the same way either to best preserve their nutrients. A good rule of thumb is to never overcook your veg till it becomes soggy and mushy, and try to eat as many of them raw or crunchy as possible. This is to prevent the loss of those precious nutrients during cooking.

There are some, however, like tomatoes, that actually offer more nutrients when cooked. So treat each vegetable differently, and try to diversify your diet and cooking methods.

Nutrients in Fruit and Vegetables

Every type of fruit and veg varies, but in general, they’re rich with vitamin A, C, E, magnesium, zinc, phosphorus, and folic acid. All of which is good for you as we don’t produce it naturally, and amongst those folic acids is believed to reduce the levels of homocysteine in our blood, a substance that increases our risk of developing coronary heart disease.

A diet of fresh fruit and vegetables is believed to reduce your risk of obesity and help you maintain a healthy weight, which improves your health overall. Fruit and veg are also known to lower your cholesterol levels and blood pressure.

Beyond that, fruit and veg are naturally packed with phytochemicals. These are biologically active substances known to help fight off diseases, and scientific studies have shown that a consistent diet of fruit and vegetables reduces your risk of:

• High Blood Pressure (Hypertension)
• Type 2 Diabetes
• Stroke
• Heart (cardiovascular) disease
• Some types of cancer

Recommended Daily amounts

Typically, half of your plate should be taken up by vegetables or fruit, and it’s recommended that adults eat at least five kinds of vegetables and two kinds of fruit every day. 

Children are recommended to eat 1-2 cups for fresh fruit and 1-3 cups for fresh vegetables a day.

The Colour Wheel for Fruit and Vegetables

It’s recommended to diversify the fruit and veg you eat, and a good way to do so is to create a rainbow of colours on your plate with the food you eat. The colours of fruit and veg are useful for indicating what nutrients you’ll get from them.

The colours can be broken down like this:

• Red - These are your tomatoes, bell peppers, strawberries, etc. These contain lycopene, which is important for fending off against heart diseases and prostate cancer.
• Yellow & Orange - Bananas, yellow squash, pumpkin, oranges, corn, and carrots, are all packed with antioxidants, folate, and potassium; great for your heart, immune system, and preventing certain cancers.
• Green - Think spinach, kale, and broccoli. Amongst their other nutrients, they contain lutein and zeaxanthin, which is believed to protect your eyes from age-related diseases.
• Blue & Purple - They don’t just look cool! Blueberries, beetroot, and eggplants, for example, contain anthocyanins, another substance that can protect you from cancer.
• White - Cauliflower, garlic, onion, and parsnips. They contain sulforaphane, which is also known to protect against some cancers.

Keeping up with a Healthy, Diverse Diet

It’s recommended to eat your fruit and veg fresh and to try new foods and recipes with them regularly. And because fruit and vegetables are best eaten raw, you should always have a supply on hand to snack on during the day to avoid opting for unhealthy snacks.

It can be hard to keep up with that kind of demand, especially when we don’t have the time to visit the shops every day or week. But you can always shop for fruit and veg online to have it conveniently delivered to your doorstep, making keeping up with your healthy diet easier than ever.

Shop our selection of produce to find the best selection of locally sourced fruit and veg in Cape Town.