Eat more fruits and vegetables…that is the advice your mother gave you long ago…and now we know it is the best advice.
Especially as the season turns to locally grown fresh fruits and vegetables at farmer’s markets and grocery stores. Here are five reasons why you should fill you plate with fruits and vegetables:
They pack in nutrients including fiber, potassium, vitamins especially Vitamin C, A and B, folate and carotenoids and other phytochemicals. You can rank them in importance, but all fresh fruits and vegetables have important benefits for you. Some are standouts and some add smaller bursts of important nutrition.
They are low in calories per bite. One serving has between 50 and 100 calories. They are high in water content so they will fill you up and keep you full longer. You are chewing on intact plant cells, which contain some of the best nutritional value for humans.
They protect the heart and brain. Fruits and vegetables are the foundation of the blood-pressure lowering DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet. Fruits are high in potassium, which is a good way to lower blood pressure. Eating fruits and vegetables may keep you at lower risk of heart attack and stroke.
Fruits especially are easy to eat – just peel or seed and pop in your mouth. Raw vegetables are also easy but many prefer their vegetables cooked. In the summer, you can store away fruits and vegetables in your freezer for cooler months ahead.
They are especially refreshing on hot summer days.
Some tips on picking fresh fruits
Mangos – sweet aroma, not color, is way to choose. Mangoes are excellent in frozen chunks.
Bananas – Never refrigerate. Wrap stem in plastic to slow ripening. Peel, chop and freeze bananas going too ripe and they are perfect for smoothies.
Apples – Be sure to eat the skin. This is where 50 percent of the fruit’s fiber can be found. Our local apple season is early to late fall.
Pears – check the neck. Pears begin to ripen at the neck and the flesh should yield to gentle pressure. Pear season is similar to apple season.
Peaches, plums, apricots – ripen in brown paper bag, then when ripe enough transfer to the refrigerator. The prime season for stone fruits locally is late July and August.
Blueberries, cherries, strawberries – wash just before you are ready to eat. Eat fresh strawberries and blueberries grown right here in central New York when they come into season in June and July. They are so much more flavorful than fruit shipped from California or Florida.
Cantaloupe – yellowish cast to the rind means it is ripe. The skin of melons should be washed before you curt them up.
Watermelons – a ripe watermelon will have a yellow spot where it sat on the ground and ripened.
Coronavirus updates – Do not fear catching the virus from fruits and vegetables. If you concentrate on locally grown fresh fruits and vegetables and prepare them the way you always have, you will be safe. Rinse your produce under running water – do not need to use soap – and wash your hands before eating food you have prepared.
Strawberry Blueberry Salad
Whisk together dressing: 1 Tbs. white balsamic vinegar, 1 Tbs. of olive oil, 1/4 Tsp. honey, 1/4 Tsp. of salt and a grind of black pepper.
Toss dressing on: 4 C of salad greens, 1/2 C strawberries sliced, 1/2 C of blueberries, 1/2 C cucumber chopped and 1/4 C of chopped radish.
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June 28, 2020 at 08:00PM
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Summer time is fresh fruit and vegetable time - Rome Sentinel
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