• Question: What makes fruit healthy

    Asked by YOYO_ROG to Ajay, Kate, Kuntal, Pip, Reka on 4 Nov 2016. This question was also asked by Benny, hannah.
    • Photo: Reka Nagy

      Reka Nagy answered on 4 Nov 2016:

      There’s a whole list of reasons, here are a few:
      1. While our body needs some minerals and vitamins to function, it can’t produce all of them itself. This is why we rely on eating things that contain them – such as fruit, vegetables, and meat.
      2. Additionally, you might have heard that fruit and veg contain fibres – these are complex sugars that we can’t digest, but which help keep our guts healthy.
      3. Most fruit and veg are low in calories, but eating them makes you feel full – so they curb your appetite while ensuring that you don’t put on any extra pounds.

    • Photo: Pip Millington

      Pip Millington answered on 7 Nov 2016:

      To expand on Reka’s answer, vitamins are by definition small chemical compounds the human body needs to function but cannot make itself. Fruits are a great source of a whole range of vitamins.

      Many years ago when explorers and pirates used to go on big sailing journeys around the world, many of them would get a disease called scurvy which affects the gums and skin healing. Later, it was discovered that people who ate lots of citrus fruits like oranges and lemons didn’t get scurvy so sailors used to stock plenty of these for long voyages. The reason was because citrus fruits contains lots of vitamin C.

      As stated by Reka, fruits also contain lots of fibre and essential minerals like potassium.

      Another reason they are healthy is because they contain a higher proportion of a sugar called fructose compared to glucose which means that most of them still taste sweet without making your blood sugar as high as foods like cakes and chocolate. This is important in minimising the risk of developing diseases like diabetes type 2 and heart disease in the long term.

    • Photo: Kuntal Singh

      Kuntal Singh answered on 8 Nov 2016:

      This question made me miss mangoes :(. There are good answers below so I will talk about my favourite fruit Mango.

      1) mango helps in keeping your cholesterol under control
      2) Rice in vitamin A so good for your eyes
      3) When it is hot in India, drink a mango shake to cool yourself down.
      4) Good for your immune system
      5) High in iron so helps with anemia (deficiency of red blood cells)

Comments