It is widely acknowledged among health and nutrition professionals that fresh fruit and vegetables are an essential part of a healthy diet. With five portions a day of fruit and vegetables being the recommended minimum, there is plenty of room to incorporate fruit into your diet, as a breakfast, snack, dessert, or made into a juice or smoothie to drink. Here we look at some surprising benefits of eating fresh fruit:

Raw Foods Contain More Nutrients
Usually, fruit is eaten raw, in a pretty natural state. This may not be the case in your apple pie, but most of the time you will be eating fruit that hasn’t been cooked. Raw foods are better for you because the enzymes and nutrients in fresh produce are broken down by the cooking process. This means you get more essential vitamins and other nutritional benefits from snacking on fruit in its natural state.

Satisfies a Sweet Tooth without Empty Calories
If you enjoy or even crave something sweet from time to time, fruit can give you that sugary taste sensation with none of the drawbacks of candy, chocolate, cookies or cake. This can help you stay satisfied if you are prone to snacking on sweet foods and want to lose weight or simply switch to a healthier diet.

High Vitamin Content
Many fruits are very rich in important vitamins. If you find yourself taking a vitamin C supplement to ward off colds and keep your energy levels high throughout the day, consider that just one cup of pineapple slices will give you 131% of your recommended daily amount of vitamin C, as well as providing you with a source of thiamine, B6, copper and manganese. Different fruits contain different proportions of different vitamins, so by consuming a rich mixture of fruit you can be sure you are getting a nicely balanced vitamin supply.