THESE are the 7 healthiest fruits
Who doesn’t love a nice piece of fruit. Whether it’s a juicy watermelon in the summer, a sweet tangerine in the fall or strawberries for dessert: we love them either way. So we eat quite a lot of fruit. An average adult Dutch person eats as much as over 47 pounds of fruit per year. Even then, that’s too little. In fact, it is recommended to eat as much as 73 kilos of fruit per year (200 grams per day) (source) to eat. So most Dutch people fall far short of that. Should you then simply start eating more fruit? The short answer is: yes. But it’s actually a little more nuanced. After all, one piece of fruit is not the other.
Sugars in fruit
There’s a reason we love fruit so much. Sure, it’s healthy, but mostly it’s just really tasty and mostly sweet. We are so fond of the sweet flavors of fruit that we often give even candy, ice cream and other bad things the taste of fruit. That sweet taste of fruit comes from the sugars that fruit contains. We are not talking about added sugars, as in candy and cookies, but sugars that the fruit naturally contains. And too much of these natural sugars is not good for you either. You may as well get a fatter belly from that, if you ingest too much of it too often, and it puts you at greater risk for conditions like diabetes.
Nutrients in fruit
Along with the sugars, the nutrients also determine how healthy a piece of fruit really is. Fruit that contains a lot of sugars but not that many healthy nutrients is, of course, not really recommended. A well-known example is dried fruit. Fruit that is dried loses many of the important vitamins it contains, while its sugar content increases substantially. Nice as a candy, but not a substitute for fresh fruit so. The same goes for most fruit juices: there are often disappointingly few remaining healthy nutrients in these, while bursting with sugars.
The 7 healthiest types of fruit that are the very healthiest
In short, fruit is healthy, but too much fruit (and thus too many sugars) or simply wrong choices, such as dried fruit, does not necessarily lead to better health. So choose the fruit you eat carefully. So which fruit is best to choose? In our opinion, these are the 7 healthiest fruits:
1 - Blueberries
Candy of nature, that’s what you might call these little blueberries. Not only do they taste delicious, they are unimaginably packed with vitamins and antioxidants. The antioxidants found in blueberries can help protect against cell damage, lowering the risk of chronic diseases, including cancer and cardiovascular disease. In addition, they are full of potassium and vitamin C.
2 - Apples
No, not in apple pie or applesauce, but just out of hand: an apple. Green, red or pink, from the supermarket or picked yourself, feel free to eat an apple every day. Apples are full of fiber, which you bowels happy and they are full of vitamins and minerals, which is nice for your resistance. Like blueberries, apples also contain many antioxidants.
3 - Avocado
Is a avocado a fruit or vegetable? It ranks third in this top 7 healthiest fruits, and we actually give away the answer with that. An avocado is definitely a fruit and also a very healthy one. Ok, it contains quite a few calories, but the occasional avocado will give you a good dose of fiber, potassium and healthy fats. You’ll be full for a long time and you’ll also be kind to your heart if you eat an avocado from time to time.
4 - Kiwi
A kiwi is small, but very rich in antioxidants and vitamin C, which not only supports immune system function, but is also beneficial to your bones. Moreover, a kiwi is a small fiber grain. One tip: if you put it in the yogurt, eat through it quickly. This is because kiwi contains protein splitting proteins, which causes the yogurt to separate after a while.
5 - Oranges
Soft Drink, ice cream and candy all too often have the taste of oranges. And that’s not surprising, because they taste deliciously sweet. It’s better to eat them than squeeze them, because when you eat them you get as much as 3 grams of fiber. As a result, you are satiated longer. In addition to vitamin C, the orange also contains a lot of calcium, which is good for teeth and bones. In turn, your teeth become less happy from the relatively high acid content. So good brushing!
6 - Bananas
In many a diet, they are immediately banned from the menu because of the high amount of sugar, which is a shame. Bananas do indeed contain more sugars than many other fruits, but on the other hand, they are packed with healthy vitamins and minerals, including potassium, vitamin B6 and vitamin C.
7 - Pomegranates
Pomegranates are juicy, sweet fruits with edible seeds. They are rich in fiber, vitamins and minerals and even contain some protein. They are also full of antioxidants and anti-inflammatory substances such as punicalagin. This offers protective benefits for heart, urinary tract, brain, prostate and digestive health.
Fruit every day?
Now that you know what we think are the healthiest fruits, you may be wondering exactly how often-and how much-fruit you should eat. An adult should eat about 200 grams of fruit a day. In practice, that amounts to 1 to 2 pieces of fruit per day. In doing so, try to vary as much as possible. Eating the same fruit every day is of course a possibility, but that’s kind of boring right? Therefore, eat preferably 2 pieces of fruit every day and vary enough. That way you keep it fun for yourself, get a variety of nutrients, and get the full health benefits.
