FRUIT – Great for Your Health

Nutrionally Fruit should be in Your Daily Diet

Fruit has numerous positive properties & benefits that are essential for our overall health & wellbeing. Fruits should be included in your daily diet. Why? Some of the reasons are:

• Cost effective enabling you to get quality nutrition relatively cheaply
• Availability with most fruits now available all year round
• Tastes great & looks great
• Healthy for snacks in between meals, before or after exercise
• Refreshing – other than refreshing fruits contain water thereby hydrating us
• Versatility – can be eaten as is, used in baking/cooking, smoothies etc.
• Healthy for snacking on at any time of the day
• Source of fiber – all fruits contain fibre in natural form
• Antioxidant properties – all fruit contain antioxidants
• Prebiotic – fruit contains prebiotic which encourage growth of good bacteria in the digestive tract
• Source of vitamins – all fruit is high in potassium – central to neuron brain function
• Contains essential minerals which vary dependent on the fruit consumed
• Provides you with energy as converted to glycogen, our body’s fuel

Fruits Relationship to Athletic Performance

Fruit is a Carbohydrate that contains high levels of Fructose. Fructose is a natural sugar that is Low GI (Glycemic Index) & most also have a low GL (Glycemic Load – figure of volume of Carbohydrate in food) as well. Fruit breaks down slowly in our GI Tract mainly due to the fruits fibre content. This slows the sugar absorption rate into our body, thereby minimizing any sugar spikes, allowing a steady, consistent flow of energy & providing us with the energy we need to perform at our best & enjoy our exercise for longer periods without the same fatigue. Hint: Want to avoid those nasty cramps we get during a challenging workout? Eat a banana before you workout. The potassium helps avoid the lactic acid build up in the muscles that triggers the cramps. It also aids in nerve and muscle function and balancing electrolytes and pH level.

Fruit is a Friend that will assist Your Swimming

Our guest blogger is Paul Barry and elite sports and conditioning coach from Brisbane, Australia. He is qualified in diverse fields including Advanced Nutrition, Sports Supplementation, Massage, Anatomy and Sports Physiology. His email address is pbelitecoach@gmail.com.