Health Benefits of A-Z fruits and vegetables (PART I)

Fruit and vegetables should play an important role in our diet. They are good sources of many essential vitamins and minerals, low in fat, and high in dietary fiber and complex carbohydrates. Additionally, higher intakes of fruits and vegetables are associated with healthier lives including lower risks of cancer and coronary heart disease. It is recommended that children eat five fruits and vegetables a day.Education is needed to help increase the consumption of fruits and vegetables. As a part of it I am giving the health benefits of fruits and vegetables in 2 parts.

APPLE: The proverb "An apple a day keeps the doctor away," addresses the health effects of this fruit.Although an apple has a low vitamin C content compared to many other fruits and vegetables, it has antioxidants and flavonoids which enhance the activity of vitamin C thereby helping to lower the risks of colon cancer, prostate cancer, heart attack, stroke type II diabetes ans asthma.The fiber content helps improve the bowel movements.

AVOCADO:Creamy rich avocado is considered the world's healthiest fruit, because of its nutrient contents such as vitamin K, dietary fiber, potassium, folic acid, vitamin B6, vitamin C, copper, and reasonable calories in it. Avocados contain “oleic acid”, a monounsaturated fat that may help lower cholesterol. Avocado is a good source of potassium, a mineral that helps regulate blood pressure.High avocado intake has been shown to have an effect on blood serum cholesterollevels. Specifically, after a seven day diet rich in avocados, hypercholesterolemia patients showed a 17% decrease in total serum cholesterol levels. These subjects also showed a 22% decrease in both LDL (bad cholesterol) and triglyceride levels and 11% increase in HDL(good cholesterol) levels.

BANANA: Due to their high content in fiber, they help restore a normal bowel function. Bananas consist mainly of sugars (glucose, fructose and sucrose) and fiber, which makes them ideal for an immediate and slightly prolonged source of energy.Bananas contain tryptophan, an aminoacid that can be converted to serotonin, leading to improved mood. Bananas are relatively high in iron, which helps the body's hemoglobin function.

BARLEY: Barley is a rich source of dietary fiber, niacin, magnesium, selenium and copper. Beacause of its high fiber content it has cholesterol lowering property and offers good intestinal protection.Niacin provides Protection Against Atherosclerosis. Trace minerals like selenium, magnesium and copper reduce the risks of colon cancer, type-2-diabetes and arthritis respectively.

BEANS: Beans actually contain a wider variety of healthy nutrients than most foods. These include calcium, potassium, vitamin B6, magnesium, folate, and alpha-linolenic acid and are a great source of the B-vitamins, thiamin and niacin, essential in metabolizing carbohydrates to release energy in the body.Another nutritional benefit of beans is that they have a high fiber content. The dietary fiber in beans is called guar gum, which is known to bind with cholesterol and aid in controlling the absorption of cholesterol into the blood stream.Fiber is also nature's own laxative. Overall, Studies done in universities have shown that eating beans on a regular basis reduces a person’s risk of developing diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and obesity.

BITTERGOURD: Bitter gourds are very low in calories but dense with precious nutrients. It is an excellent source of vitamins B1, B2, and B3, C, magnesium, folic acid, zinc, phosphorus, manganese, and has high dietary fiber. It is rich in iron, contains twice the beta-carotene of broccoli, twice the calcium of spinach, and twice the potassium of a banana.Bitter melon contains a unique phyto-constituent that has been confirmed to have a hypoglycemic effect called charantin.

BLUE BERRY: These are high in Antioxidants and Antioxidants help neutralize harmful by-products called "free radicals" that can lead to cancer and other age-related diseases.

BROCCOLI: Broccoli's noteworthy nutrients include vitamin C, vitamin A (mostly as beta-carotene), folic acid, calcium, and fiber. Broccoli is an important calcium source for those who don't consume dairy products. Calcium does more than build strong bones. Research shows that this mineral may play a role in the control of high blood pressure, and it may work to prevent colon cancer.

CABBAGE: Cabbage is an excellent source of antioxidants and vitamin C. These antioxidant phytonutrients are associated with lower incidence of a variety of cancers, including lung, colon, breast and ovarian cancer.The juice of fresh raw cabbage has been proven to heal stomach ulcer.Cabbage contain Sulforaphane, a substance that can increase the production of antioxidant and detoxification enzymes. Sulforaphane works by stimulating the production of glutathione, the body's most important internally produced antioxidant which plays a role in liver detoxification. Red cabbage contain anthocyanin (red pigment/color) is an antioxidant that can help protect brain cells, thus can help prevent Alzheimer's disease.

CANTALOUPE: Cantaloupe is an excellent source of Vitamins A, B6 and C, and potassium. It’s also a very good source of dietary fiber, folic acid, niacin, pantothenic acid, and thiamine. One cup of cantaloupe contains 112.5% of the daily value for this well-known antioxidant. Cantaloupe has antioxidants that help us fight heart diseases, high blood pressure, diabetes, cancer, aging, etc.

CELERY: Celery is a rich source of vitamin C, phthalides and coumarins. Phthalides present in celery relax the muscles around arteries and allow those vessels to dilate. Coumarins and acetylenics have been shown to stop the growth of tumor cells. It also contains a variety of various minerals and nutrients such as tryptophan, folate, dietary fiber, molybdenum, manganese, phosphorus, calcium, magnesium, iron, and vitamins B6 (pyridoxine), B1 (thiamin), B2(riboflavin).

CRANBERRY: Cranberries are high in antioxidants, flavonoids and vit.C. Particularly in the prevention of urinary tract infections, cranberries have proven benefits as an anti-adhesion agent. This means that there are elements in cranberries that can inhibit or stop bacterial adhesion to the walls of the urinary tract.

GARLIC: Garlic contains sulfur compounds , such as allicin and diallyl sulphides . Garlic also houses vitamin C, B6, selenium, magnesium, potassium, calcium and manganese and flavonoids. Allicin has antibiotic, anti-viral and anti-fungal properties, and is used for skin infections such as Athletes’s foot, herpes and warts, digestive and lung infections such as diarrhea, coughs and colds, and Candida yeast and other microbes. Garlic also contains diallyl sulphides, which, are good for the blood and circulation, lowering bad cholesterol and boosting the immune system.