Can Fruit Be Smart?  Cutting Through The Lingo

 

Yes, fruit can be smart! Fruits, along with their counterparts, vegetables, are the healthiest, most flavorful foods on our planet. Fruits boast a multitude of vitamins and minerals that play an important part of a daily nutritious diet.  The USDA recommends that males between the ages of 19 and 50 should consume between 5 to 13 servings of fruit and vegetables a day. That’s a lot of servings but not hard to do when you consider the available variety. One of the easiest ways to add fruits and vegetables to our diets is by drinking them in juices and smoothies. But buyers beware, not all juices are created equal. A quick look at labels can help you make some savvy decisions. Although some of the ingredient terms can be confusing, it doesn’t take long to educate yourself about what’s good for you. Here’s a quick primer on label lingo to help you make some smart fruit choices, so you can make the most of their delicious health benefits.

 

 

What You Don’t Want In Your Fruit Juices

 

Let’s start with what you do not want added to your fruit juices. Added sweeteners contain calories and unhealthy sugars that you don’t want or need to add to a naturally sweet fruit. Avoid ingredients such as high fructose corn syrup, which contributes to the risk of obesity and developing type 2 diabetes. Genetically Modified Organisms or GMOs are plants and animals that have been artificially manipulated through genetic engineering in a lab. GMOs are not proven to be safe. More testing must take place before we know the health and environmental risks of GMO products. Look for a label that is certified GMO free. Naturally delicious fruit juice mixes should not contain artificial flavors or colors. If the list of ingredients contains an ingredient such as "yellow #5”, put it back on the shelf and walk away.  Above all, make sure that your smoothie or smoothie mix is made of 100% real fruit.

 

Even healthy looking ingredients can obscure the benefits of what you are drinking. Often apple or pear juice is added to a variety of fruits to make them cheaper for consumers. However, these juices dilute the flavor and nutritious benefits of whole fruits.

 

 

What You Do Want in your Fruit Juices

 

Fruits are naturally sweet, delicious and full of healthy benefits. The more concentrated fruit in your juice or smoothie the more benefits you will receive. When those fruits are combined with "super fruits” the benefits multiply. Super-fruits such as goji berries, acai berries, guarana extract, pomegranate, and blueberries etc. contain properties such as antioxidants, electrolytes, phytonutrients and Omega-3’s.  Antioxidants fight free radicals, which are a natural biological response to environmental toxins and can damage living cells. By fighting free radicals, antioxidants can slow the aging process, boosting your body immunity against cancers and heart disease. Electrolytesrestore minerals that are eliminated when you sweat during strenuous exercise and keep you from becoming dehydrated.

 

 

Fruit Just Got Even Smarter

 

To get the full benefit of fruit juices, look for labels that list real fruits at the top of their ingredient lists. Go for the smart fruit and juices that satisfy a large part of required vitamin daily values and consist of 100% natural fruits. A terrific product that ticks all the healthy boxes is Smartfruit smoothie mix. You can even get free samples on their website.