Few calories and many nutrients
Fruit is very healthy. It contains few calories and a lot of nutrients. Each type of fruit contains different good substances. For example, the summery acai berry contains different substances than the classic apple. It is best to vary fruit to take advantage of all the goodness fruit has to offer.
There is really no real definition of summer fruit. This is mainly because nowadays every type of fruit is available in the supermarket all year round. Some will call Dutch fruit that is mainly for sale in the summer summer fruit. Think strawberries and blueberries. The other will think of more eccentric fruits, such as acai berries. Another will call fruits from sunny lands summer fruits, such as lemons and oranges. A banana would then also fall under summer fruit.
Full of healthy substances
Either way, everyone will associate summer fruits with tasty, fresh and healthy. And that’s it! The great thing is that each type of fruit has a different delicious taste, and also a different combination of healthy nutrients. In general, fruits are high in vitamins A, C, folic acid, fiber, potassium and calcium, and bioactive compounds such as flavonoids and lycopene. But the species differ greatly from one another. Strawberries, grapefruit, kiwis and oranges, for example, contain relatively much vitamin C, a banana a lot of magnesium, a melon a lot of lycopene and glutathione, exotic berries such as the acai berry and the aronia berry contain many anthocyanins.
vary
It is precisely because each type of fruit contains different (combinations of) nutrients that it is so important to vary. By eating the same fruits every day, you miss out on the nutrients of other fruits. What applies to food and drink in general also applies to fruit itself: vary. That is the best for health and so you get various vitamins, minerals, trace elements and bioactive substances.
Weight and health benefits
In general, fruit is low in calories and high in nutrients. This ensures that fruit is good for weight and health. It can help to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer. The contribution to your health is greatest if you eat fruit twice a day. In the Netherlands we eat fruit on average once a day, so feel free to eat more, plenty of choice!
Fresh
Varying is important, and it is therefore difficult to say which type of fruit is the healthiest. One type contains different nutrients than the other, but there can also be differences in the amount of nutrients within a fruit type. For example, because of the variety, but also because of the soil in which the fruit was grown or the season and climate in which the fruit was grown. What is there to say? That fresh fruit contains the most nutrients.
Top 10 household purchases of fresh fruit
(per household, in kilos)
| apples | 22.33 |
| oranges | 17.41 |
| bananas | 13.67 |
| tangerines | 7.44 |
| pears | 5.10 |
| Grapes | 3.63 |
| kiwis | 3.44 |
| melons | 3.27 |
| strawberries | 2.78 |
| nectarines | 2.07 |
(Source: Product Board Horticulture, 2009)
