Originally published June 12 2005
Mayo Clinic offers tips for choosing, eating and storing fruit
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
The Mayo Clinic offers some tips for how to select, eat and store fresh fruits. To select the best fruits, choose ones that look heavy for their size, since they will probably be juicier. Smell certain fruits, like cantaloupe, and choose fruits like kiwi based on how soft or hard they are to the touch. Eat fruits soon after they are prepared, and if the fruit comes with an edible skin, eat the skin as often as possible, since it contains extra nutrients. Storing fruit in the refrigerator slows the ripening process, while storing at room temperature accelerates ripening. Discard any rotten, slimy or smelly fruit.
Nature offers many sweet choices for eating well: juicy red cherries, plump purple plums, and orange, luscious tangerines, just to name a few.
In fact, all fruits fit into a colorful and healthy diet.
Whether you eat them as snacks, main meals or trimmings, fruits offer a variety of nutrients, very little fat and relatively few calories.
Fruits are a great-tasting way to get vitamins, minerals and fiber and to satisfy your sweet tooth without loading up on calories.
Here are suggestions to help you select the highest quality fruits when you're shopping, ways to store them once you get home, and tips for preparing and serving fruits to enhance their flavor and retain their nutrients.
Fruits should generally have their characteristic ripe scent but not smell overly ripe.
For example, cantaloupe (muskmelon) shouldn't smell too musty, especially if you don't plan to eat it right away.
A kiwi that feels mushy to the touch is too ripe.
However, an avocado with a somewhat spongy texture is ideal.
Dried fruits are a concentrated source of dietary fiber, but they're also higher in calories than are fresh fruits.
Use dried fruits sparingly and try to buy versions that don't contain added sugar.
Some fruits --- such as bananas, pears, nectarines and kiwi --- may be picked and sold at grocery stores before they're ripe.
Oranges, apricots and cherries keep well from one to two weeks in your refrigerator.
You can freeze many types of fruit for up to one year.
Fresh fruit is generally best because it contains the most nutrients, but frozen fruit, fruits canned in their own juice or water, and dried fruit are good alternatives.
* Place a package of dried fruit in your car, purse, briefcase, backpack or lunchbox for a between-meal snack.
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