CHAPTER 5
Fruits, Nuts, Grains and Seeds

Fruits

          Fruits are great; they are a wonderful source of vitamins and minerals. They contain a lot of fiber, and the bulk tends to fill you up. Most people don’t eat fruits on a daily basis and I am not sure why. It may be that they just don’t think about them. Sure, they have heard in the past that you need to eat five fruits a day, but that is as far as it goes. It may be that it is inconvenient to take an apple or two a day to work with you to eat at your break, or it may be that you think they are too expensive. Whatever the reason, most people do not eat as many fruits each day as they should.
          So what is fiber? Fiber is the natural substance in plants that we do not digest well and it tends to go straight through us. We do not have the enzymes in our body to digest fiber. If we were to eat grass, we could not use it to fuel our body as well as a cow can. Fiber is the part of carrots that is left over if you happen to make carrot juice. If you make apple cider, it is the material that is left in the cider press that gets thrown away. It is the coating of fruits and vegetables, as well as the material that gives them form. It helps to keep our intestinal system working well.
          Fruits have a lot of fiber and that is important, since most of us do not get enough fiber in our diet. Most Americans over the age of forty have what are called diverticuli in their colon. Those are little distended pouches that occur when the colon or large intestines must work hard over a long period of time. If you have more fiber in your diet, then the colon does not have to work as hard and you see fewer diverticuli. “So what,” you might say, “who cares if I have diverticuli?” Well, you will if they get infected and you have what is then called diverticulosis. With this problem you might end up in the hospital and perhaps even require surgery to have part of your intestines removed. To avoid this situation, you need to consume natural fiber such as that found in fruit, which is excellent for your intestinal tract.
          Some fruits—such as prunes--also contain stimulants that help keep your bowels regular. With prunes you not only get fiber, but you also get a stimulant for those who have constipation. Constipation is defined by the medical community as bowel movements that are hard and tend to form balls. Diarrhea, on the other hand, is a watery bowel movement. If you eat a lot of fruit you can develop diarrhea from fructose, one of the sugars in the fruit. Some people have problems with fructose and are not able to tolerate large amounts of it. As you go through the drug store and see all the chemicals to help people with their bowels, just think of what they could achieve with fruit.
          If people use chemicals to stimulate their bowels to work on a daily basis, then after awhile they will have to use them because their bowels have become lazy and just won’t work without the chemicals. If you add fiber at that point, then you can recondition the bowels to work but it does take time--perhaps years, so be patient.
          So you should definitely eat fruit. One caveat is that if you are a diabetic, be certain that you discuss this with your physician. The sugar in fruit will increase your blood sugar so you may have to modify your insulin program. Some fruits have a higher glycemic index than others. What this means is that they will tend to raise your sugar more than others. Bananas, for example, have a tendency to elevate the sugar more than apples. These are things that diabetics need to know so that they can choose fruits that will be more gentle on their sugar.
          Should you eat organically grown fruit? The answer depends upon whether or not you believe that organically grown fruit is better. There are people who only eat organically grown food, which is fine; however, it may be more expensive and more difficult to find. For the majority of people who do not worry about how food is grown, then just enjoy the fruit. I don’t believe that there is only one answer to this question. Some are concerned about the kind of fertilizer, sprays, and agents that are used to grow foods. Others are not. If you are, then you should eat “organically” grown foods; if not, then eat the foods that you find at the neighborhood supermarket.
          It would be good to consume a healthy portion of your calories from fruit every day. You still have to remember that calories are still calories. If you eat 3 apples (243 calories) and one banana (149 calories), you have to realize that you have still eaten approximately 400 calories of your daily budget. So fruit are not “free”; they have a caloric value that you cannot forget.
          Fruit juices are important as well. In orange juice, there may be a lot of fiber, especially if you get the kind with a lot of pulp or the ones that are fresh-squeezed. You can also get juices that don’t have much fiber in them, but they are not as good for you as those with lots of pulp; the pulp will tend to slow the absorption of the juice and allow it to stay in your stomach a little longer. In days gone by you could get freshly made apple cider that was not pasteurized. Then there were cases where bacteria had contaminated the cider and some people either died or ended up on dialysis, so now what you will find is a pasteurized product. That is good because it is healthy for you and it is safer. You don’t have to worry about bacteria already being in the product. It will still have an expiration date that you need to heed but it should be sterile. In terms of calories, 6 to 10 ounces of orange juice should have 75 to 130 calories, while apple cider will have 85 to 140 calories.

Apples 2 ¾” diameter 80 calories
Oranges 2 5/8” diameter 70 calories
Bananas 7 in long 150 calories
Blueberries 1 cup 80 calories
Grapefruit 3 ¾ inch 90 calories
Kiwi 40 calories
Mango 1 cup 105 calories
Peaches 50 calories
Pears 110 calories
Plums 3oz 50 calories
Pineapple 3 rings from whole pineapple 120 calories

          So with all the different fruits which one is best? The answer is simple: it depends on which one you like the best. We were fortunate that we were blessed with all types of fruits on this earth, and we have the opportunity to eat and enjoy them all. You need to try different ones. Many times we tend to get into ruts and only eat one or two different fruits. There are many different kinds and varieties, so enjoy them all! They all have their distinct and wonderful taste.

Nuts, Grains, and Seeds

          Grains are the most commonly consumed foods worldwide. For example, we can all picture the large fields of grain in the Midwest. Grains are used to make many foods such as cereals and flour that are ingredients in breads, pastas, cakes and the like. Most of the time we use grains that have been processed, and then made into other products; generally we do not eat grains in their entire form unless we eat multi-grain breads. Some of cereals found at the grocery store on the top shelf of the aisle also have whole grains in them. The cereals that are on the top shelf are usually the ones that are good for you. The ones that are highest in sugar are usually at eye level; this is done for marketing purposes by the vendors.
          Grains are complex carbohydrates, which is good. One bad thing about grains is that most of us get them in a highly processed form. In this form, a lot of the nutrients have been removed and they are not the complex carbohydrates that we see in whole grains. Complex carbohydrates are not converted rapidly to sugars; it may take a few steps so that when you eat them you do not get a sugar spike in your blood. If you cook with whole grains, you have to remember that they can become rancid if left at room temperature after they have been opened, so refrigerate them. Many of the grains that people eat are wheat, oats, rye, corn, barley, rice, buckwheat, and millet.
          Grains are low in protein, so if you are a vegetarian you have to be sure that you get some of the more complete proteins in your diet, which come from nuts. There are some amino acids, which are building blocks of proteins that the human body cannot make, and we must have them in our diet. Not all proteins have all the amino acids in them. Not all proteins are the same and they are made with different quantities of different amino acids. So if your diet is deficient in the essential amino acids that we as humans must have, you will not be able to make some of the proteins that you need to help your body grow and repair. Most Americans are meat eaters and because meat has all the amino acids that you need, it is not a problem. The only time it becomes a problem is for the strict vegetarian, who does not consume any meat or animal products such as milk or eggs.

Nuts

          Nuts are the highest in fat content of the three. Generally, there is one gram of fat per nut that you eat, when you look at cashews or the equivalent size of nut. The nut itself is frequently referred to as the meat and a shell encases it. Nuts can contain complete proteins and therefore, vegetarians will frequently add them to their diet to complement the other foods that they eat. Because of the fat content they have a lot of calories as well, and if you eat a lot of nuts you can get a significant caloric intake. Therefore, if you are going to use nuts as a snack you will need to limit them to an amount that will be consistent with the amount of calories that you want to consume as a snack. Like seeds and grains, they can go rancid if left out at room temperature for a long period of time. Therefore, if you do not eat them within one month, you may want to keep them in the refrigerator. Many people who eat nuts as a snack will count out 15 nuts or take 1/8 cup and put it in a little bag to take to work with them. If you just have the jar or can full of nuts with you at work, you will probably eat a lot more than is recommended.

Seeds

          Seeds have more fats than grains; the other problem with seeds is that many times they are fried in fats. It is hard to find fresh seeds but it is easy to find them fried in oils. The problem with fried seeds is that seeds already have a lot of normal fats, and then you add the fats that get absorbed into the seeds in the frying process. The seeds that are frequently eaten include pumpkin, sesame, and sunflower. They can also become rancid and therefore, need to be refrigerated after opening. If you eat seeds as a snack then you have to be careful of all the salt. It is best if you keep your salt intake low if you have a choice; this is because it will tend to contribute to the formation of hypertension. When you are young your body can handle all the salt you throw at it. As you get older, though, the kidneys have trouble filtering it out and you start to see swelling in the legs. Chronic swelling in the legs will lead to ulcers, infections of the ulcers, and in some cases amputation of the legs. It is best to keep your salt intake to as little as you can. You don’t need a lot of extra salt unless you work in a field that results in you losing a lot of sweat such as construction workers, or football players. They may need the extra salt due to what they have lost in sweat.

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