It is best to chew an apple for fifteen minutes
Apples are highly nutritious, rich in various vitamins and acids.
According to experts, apples should not be eaten too quickly. If chewed for a longer time in the mouth, more saliva and gastric juice can be secreted, which is beneficial for promoting the human body's absorption and digestion of the nutritional elements in apples.
From a nutritional perspective, we do not advocate the "wolfing down" method of eating. For people with poor gastrointestinal health, special attention should be paid to the speed of eating apples. Eating too fast can easily lead to indigestion and cause physical discomfort.
Many people may have had this experience: when an apple is eaten for a long time, the bitten surface will turn yellow, the moisture content of that part of the flesh will decrease, and it will become softer and less crisp. Fu Jinru explained that this is actually the result of apple oxidation. Although it looks less appealing and the texture is not particularly good, its nutritional elements are not lost, and generally, it will not cause harm after being eaten.
Considerations for Eating Fruit
1. Choose fruit based on illness:
Patients with coronary heart disease and hyperlipidemia should eat hawthorn, citrus, grapefruit, peach, strawberry, etc., as these fruits contain vitamin C and niacin, which have the effect of lowering blood lipids and cholesterol.
Patients with diabetes should eat fruits rich in pectin or fruit acids, such as pineapple, pear, cherry, waxberry, grape, lemon, etc., which can change the amount of insulin secreted and lower blood sugar.
Patients with hepatitis should eat fruits rich in vitamin C, such as oranges, jujubes, kiwis, bananas, apples, strawberries, etc.
Patients with respiratory tract infections, especially those with sore throat, cough, and excessive phlegm, should eat more fruits that can resolve phlegm, moisten the lungs, and relieve cough, such as pear, loquat, grapefruit, apricot, etc.
Patients with hypertension and arteriosclerosis should eat oranges, hawthorn, jujubes, tangerines, etc., which are rich in vitamin C, to lower blood pressure and alleviate vascular hardening. Other sour fruits, like lemons, can have the same effect. Hami melon has a high potassium content and is free of sodium and fat, which helps control blood pressure.
Patients with myocardial infarction and stroke should eat fruits that aid digestion, such as bananas, oranges, and peaches; they should not eat persimmons, apples, etc., as these fruits contain tannic acid, which can cause constipation and worsen the condition.
2. Choose fruit based on color:
Orange: Orange pigment has an anti-cancer effect, several times that of carotene, and is rich in vitamin C. Representative fruits include oranges and Hami melons.
Purple: Proanthocyanidin in purple fruits is very effective for relieving eye fatigue, and this component also has the function of enhancing blood vessel elasticity. Representative fruits include grapes and plums.
Red: The root of red color is carotenoid, which can inhibit active oxygen that promotes the formation of cancer cells, improve human immunity, and also has an anti-aging effect. Representative fruits include apples, plums, figs, and peaches.
Yellow: Yellow pigment is a type of flavonoid, which has an antioxidant effect and can prevent arteriosclerosis and cancer. Representative fruits include lemons, papayas, bananas, and grapefruit.
3. Choose fruit based on nature:
Apple: Apples contain a large amount of sugars and potassium salts, and excessive intake is not conducive to heart and kidney health. People with coronary heart disease, myocardial infarction, kidney disease, or diabetes should not eat too many.
Banana: Bananas are cold in nature and contain a lot of sodium salt. People with chronic nephritis, hypertension, or edema should be especially cautious. Because bananas contain a large amount of sugar, diabetic patients should also eat less.
Citrus: Citrus fruits are cold in nature. Elderly people with weak spleen, stomach, large intestine, and lungs should not eat too much to avoid inducing symptoms such as abdominal pain and weakness in the knees and waist. Tangerines are warm-natured; eating too many can easily lead to "heatiness," causing mouth sores, red and swollen eyes, and triggering hemorrhoids.
Watermelon: Watermelon has a high water content and is an excellent summer heat-relieving food, but its flesh is cold. Elderly and weak people who eat too much may easily experience abdominal pain or diarrhea. Patients with heart failure and those with severe edema should also not eat too much.
Litchi: Eating large quantities of litchi continuously can make one's face pale and cause symptoms such as dizziness, palpitations, cold sweats, yawning, and fatigue. This is due to exogenous hypoglycemia caused by litchi, which is medically known as "litchi disease."
Persimmon: Persimmon flesh contains a large amount of tannin and persimmon gum phenol. Tannin has a strong astringent effect, so patients with constipation should not eat too much. In addition, eating persimmons on an empty stomach or after eating crab can easily form persimmon stones. Therefore, patients with gastritis, excessive stomach acid, and weak spleen and stomach, as well as those who are hungry or tired, should avoid or eat less persimmons.
Five "Don'ts" for Eating Fruit
1. Don't use fruit as a substitute for vegetables. Fruits contain organic acids and aromatic substances, which play an important role in stimulating appetite and helping nutrient absorption. Moreover, fruits do not require cooking, so there is no loss of nutrition. However, the amount of minerals and vitamins in fruits is far less than in vegetables. If you don't eat vegetables and rely only on fruit, it is absolutely insufficient to provide enough nutrients. In terms of vitamin C content, cheap cabbage and radish are about 10 times higher than apples, pears, and peaches. The vitamin C content of green peppers and cauliflower is 2-3 times that of strawberries and citrus. Therefore, eating about 500 grams of vegetables daily is essential.
2. Don't use fruit as a meal substitute. The human body needs nearly 50 nutrients to survive, especially more than 65 grams of fat per day to maintain the renewal and repair of tissues and organs. Fruits contain over 85% water, but their protein content is less than 1%, and they almost contain no essential fatty acids, far from meeting the body's nutritional needs. Fruit can only be a supplement to a meal; just because it's tasty doesn't mean you can eat a lot of it.
3. Don't rely on eating a lot of fruit for weight loss. In fact, fruit is not a very low-energy food. Because of its pleasant sweetness, its sugar content often exceeds 80%, and it is easily digestible monosaccharides and disaccharides. Although fruits contain less calories than rice by weight, their sweet taste often makes people love to eat them, making it easy to overeat, so the sugar intake often exceeds the standard. Losing weight by eating fruit is not reliable.
4. Don't blindly believe in expensive imported fruits. Many people think that expensive foreign fruits must have higher nutritional value, but this is not the case. Imported fruits begin to degrade nutrients during transportation, and their freshness is not ideal. Moreover, for long-distance transport, fruits are often picked before they are fully ripe and preserved with chemical agents, which may affect their quality. Therefore, when buying imported fruits, be sure to be discerning and check the quality carefully.
5. Don't rely on fruit to supplement vitamins. The vitamin C content in most fruits is not high, and the content of other vitamins is even more limited. There are 13 types of vitamins, which come from a variety of foods. It is extremely unwise to rely solely on fruit for all vitamins. For example, to meet the daily recommended amount of vitamin C, one would need to consume 5 kilograms of Fuji apples, which is an absolutely impossible task. Fruits rich in vitamin C include fresh jujubes, kiwis, hawthorn, grapefruit, strawberries, and citrus. However, the vitamin C content in commonly eaten fruits like apples, pears, peaches, apricots, bananas, and grapes is very low. Mango is the fruit with the most carotene, and yellow fruits like citrus, yellow apricots, and pineapple only contain a small amount of carotene.