Fruits and vegetables in your diet in pregnancy

Why fruits and vegetables are so important:

Packed full of essential nutrients and fiber, fruits and vegetables are an important part of any healthy diet - and must appear in abundance in your kitchen when you're pregnant.

A slice of melon or a bowl of strawberries for a snack, and provide your baby with vitamins and minerals for growth while maintaining healthy, too. Pair fruit with a little protein, like cottage cheese, and you have a constant energy boost to get through a long afternoon.

The fiber content of fruits and vegetables also offers a number of benefits, including maintaining a bowel movement. This helps to prevent constipation and hemorrhoids, two common problems during pregnancy.

 How much should you eat

Whenever possible, try to eat 2 cups of fruit and 2 1 / 2 to 3 cups of vegetables a day. This is what counts as a cup:

* 1 cup raw or cooked vegetables

* 2 cups raw leafy greens (or 1 cup of leafy greens and 1/2 cup of other vegetables)

* 1 cup raw, canned, or frozen fruit

* 2 small bananas (less than 6 inches) or 1 large (8 to 9 inches)

* 1/2 cup dried fruit

* 1 medium to large piece of fruit (1 large orange, 1 medium pear or grapefruit, 2 large plums, 1/2 large apple)

* 1 cup 100 percent fruit juice, vegetable juice, or fruit-vegetable juice.

Best Fruits for weight loss

Won’t it be good to lose weight without requiring a diet of tasteless food or hours and hours of sweating over a tiresome treadmill?? The answer would definitely be YES. You can lose weight by eating an unlimited amount of sweet satisfying food which is nothing but FRUITS.

Fruits are one of best choice to lose weight since it has low calories and fat. Also it helps you to stay full because of its water and fiber content. Apples, watermelon, grapefruit and papaya are some of the fruits which favor weight loss. To get better results, eat fresh fruit rather than fruit juice or dried fruits because dried fruits have more energy density than whole fresh fruits.

Citrus fruits are another food which aids for weight. Citrus fruits are rich in vitamin C which helps to dissolve and liquefy the fat and eliminate it from the body. Apples are also the best choice not only since it is low in calories, but also has high pectin content which lowers the insulin levels and promote weight loss. So you can very well say, “An apple a day keeps the fat away”.

The uncommon fact about papaya is that the skin of this unripe fruit contributes to weight loss. The skin contains an enzyme called papain which is used as a diet tenderizer and helps in effective digestion.

Amazing Facts About Fruits

Fruits are highly nutritious and are part of a healthy diet. But most of us consume them without knowing much about them. Here are some interesting and amazing facts about fruits which you may be surprised to know about.

Eating apple can make you stay awake which is equivalent to consuming a cup of coffee.

Olive trees can live for more than 1,500 years.

Strawberries are the only fruit having their seeds outside.

When tomato, which contains vitamin C, is eaten with burger or meat, the body makes better use of iron in the protein food.

Blackberry juice can be used to dye cloth navy blue or indigo.

Dwarf apple trees produce larger fruit than semi-dwarf trees.

Banana plants grow an inch or more during night.

Many years ago, explorers used watermelons to carry their water.