Increased Fruit/Vegetable
Consumption

If your typical meal is dominated by food that is white, brown and gray then what you are eating is probably making you old.  Instead, think "color and crunch."  Eat meals that are dominated by juicy, crunchy foods rich in reds, oranges, purples and greens.

Fruit is a good source of antioxidants.

Fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds, plenty of water and fresh juices are all recommended.

Fruit and vegetable consumption (a minimum of five portions daily) was associated with modest reductions of systolic and diastolic blood pressures in a controlled study of 690 healthy people ages 25-64. [Lancet May 28, 2002]

A diet high in fiber helps prevent coronary heart disease.  Eating fruits high in the soluble fiber pectin has also been linked with reduced cholesterol levels, which protects against atherosclerosis.

Whole fruit and fruit and vegetable juice, both high in potassium, are recommended by some doctors for congestive heart failure (CHF).  This dietary change should, however, be discussed with a healthcare provider because several drugs given to people with CHF can actually cause retention of potassium, making dietary potassium, even from fruit, dangerous.  Bananas are a rich source of potassium and need to be avoided in persons taking potassium-sparing diuretics.

Many people eat insufficient amounts of foods containing vitamin C; the disease caused by vitamin C deficiency, scurvy, causes easy bruising.  While very few people actually have scurvy, even minor deficiencies of vitamin C can increase bruising.  Fruits are common dietary sources of vitamin C.

Fruit consumption alone has been linked to lower rates of numerous cancers [Cancer Causes and Control 7 (1996): p.178] and may reduce heart disease mortality, cancer and even total mortality. [British Medical Journal 313 (1996): p.775]  The World Health Organization blames low fruit and vegetable consumption on literally millions of deaths worldwide. [World Health Organization. Fruit, vegetables and NCD prevention]  Everyone should eat more fruits and vegetables as if their lives depended on it.

Fruit can often be used as a natural replacement for sugar, for example raisins or dates to sweeten baked goods, bananas on cereal, or pure fruit juice to replace soft drinks and thus avoid the refined sugars within.

With their high water content, fruits and vegetables can help keep the body hydrated.

For added protection under the sun, take advantage of fresh fruits and vegetables rich in antioxidants, like carotenoids and flavonoids, and high in potassium.

A proper diet, particularly for those persons with diabetes, will help delay retinopathy.

There is evidence that eating fresh fruits and dark green, leafy vegetables (such as spinach and collard greens) may delay or reduce the severity of age-related macular degeneration.

A diet high in fiber from natural sources such as raw fruits and vegetables, whole grain products and beans increases elimination of estrogen from the body.  Foods that promote breast health are flaxseed oil, garlic, cabbage, rosemary and turmeric.  Eat foods that promote liver health and detoxify the body such as onions, leeks, carrots, kale, beets, lemons, artichokes, cauliflower and broccoli.

Many people who are dependent on laxatives feel that they must keep on using them because otherwise they become very constipated.  A natural way to break this cycle involves eating 1-2 pieces of dried fruit a day, drinking at least 6 glasses of water a day, exercising daily, and stopping all laxative use.  There may be no bowel movement for several days, and it may be very hard, but after that the body should settle down to some sort of schedule.  It is not necessary to have bowel movements every day; so long as the stools are soft, things are working normally.  If dried fruit is not what you like to eat, apples are a good alternative.  If, after 2 weeks, you are not feeling any better, go see your doctor.  There are some medical conditions that are associated with chronic constipation, which you should be checked for if diet changes do not help.

Based on their clinical experience and on very preliminary research, several doctors have suggested that a number of dietary factors may promote the overgrowth of Candida.  Dried fruits, which are high in sugar, have been blamed for contributing to promotion of Candida overgrowth.  Sugars avoidance is a standard recommendation on any anti-candidal diet.

Soluble fiber from fruit pectin has lowered cholesterol levels in most trials.  Doctors often recommend that people with elevated cholesterol eat more foods high in soluble fiber.

To lose weight, you can either cut down on calorie intake by restricting the amount of food you eat, or you can transition away from eating junk food (foodstuffs long on calories but short on nutrition) toward eating food that is nutrient-dense, but relatively calorie-dilute: foods such as fruits, vegetables, beans and whole grains.

Eat plenty of fresh green, leafy vegetables and colored foods, such as kale, tomatoes and peppers.  These foods are great sources of bone-building nutrients like calcium and vitamin K.  Eat other foods high in calcium and magnesium such as seeds and nuts, broccoli, brown rice, avocado, and beans.

Especially recommended are cherries.  Liberal amounts (up to 1 pound per day) of cherries, blueberries, and other anthocyanoside-rich (i.e. red-blue) berries or extracts should be consumed.  Consuming fresh or canned cherries has been shown to be very effective in lowering uric acid levels and preventing attacks of gout.  Cherries, hawthorn berries, blueberries, and other dark red-blue berries are rich sources of anthocyanidins and proanthocyanidins.  These compounds are flavonoid molecules that give these fruits their deep red-blue color, and are remarkable in their ability to prevent collagen destruction.

Studies suggest that eating just one serving of dark leafy greens or broccoli each day can cut your risk of hip fracture in half.  A diet low in green leafy vegetables can be low in vitamin K.  Vegetarians have on average greater bone mass than meat eaters.

A fresh fruit and vegetable diet has about a hundred times more potassium than sodium.

Dark green leafy vegetables and broccoli are rich in calcium.

Eating carbohydrate-containing foods, including some fruits, temporarily raises blood sugar and insulin levels.  On the other hand, a diet rich in the soluble fiber found in fruit may lower the risk of type 2 diabetes, despite the high carbohydrate content of most fruit.

High-fiber supplements, such as pectin from fruit, have been found to improve glucose tolerance in some studies.  A review of the research revealed that the extent to which moderate amounts of fiber help people with diabetes in the long term is still unknown, and the lack of many long-term studies has led some researchers to question the importance of fiber in improving diabetes.  Nonetheless, most doctors advise people with diabetes to eat a diet high in fiber.  Focus should be placed on fruits, vegetables, seeds, oats and whole-grain products.

A diet high in antioxidants may protect against the free-radical-damaging effect of environmental toxins or cigarette smoke.  Studies comparing different populations have shown that increasing fruit consumption appears to reduce the risk of developing chronic bronchitis.

Eat plenty of antioxidant-containing fruits and vegetables.

Eczema can be triggered by allergies, and according to data from double-blind research most children with eczema have food allergies.  However, classical food allergens are often not the cause of eczema in adults.  A variety of substances have been shown, in a controlled trial, to trigger eczema reactions in susceptible individuals; avoidance of these substances, such as aromatic compounds found in fruits, has similarly been shown to improve eczema.  These reactions do not represent true food allergies, but are instead a type of food sensitivity reaction.  The authors of this study did not identify which substances are the most common triggers of the condition.

A diet high in fruits appears protective against heart disease.  The total number of deaths from cardiovascular disease was found to be significantly lower among men with high fruit consumption in one study.  A large study of male healthcare professionals found that those men eating mostly a "prudent" diet (high in fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, fish, and poultry) had a 30% lower risk of heart attacks compared to men who ate the fewest foods in the "prudent" category.  A parallel study of female healthcare professionals showed a 15% reduction in cardiovascular risk when they ate a diet high in fruits and vegetables compared to the effect of a low fruit and vegetable diet.

People with low blood levels of antioxidants and those who eat few antioxidant-rich fruits and vegetables have been reported to be at high risk for cataracts.

Some – but not all – studies have reported that eating more fruits and vegetables rich in beta-carotene was associated with a lower risk of cataracts.  It remains unclear whether natural beta-carotene from food or supplements would protect the eye or whether beta-carotene in food is merely a marker for other protective factors in fruits and vegetables high in beta-carotene.

Eating a diet rich in fruit and vegetables (which contain antioxidant vitamins) will reduce the risk of stomach problems, including cancer.

Consumption of fruits is widely accepted as lowering the risk of most common cancers except prostate cancer.  Many doctors recommend that people wishing to reduce their risk of cancer eat several pieces of fruit and several portions of vegetables every day.  Optimal intakes remain unknown.

It was suggested in 1970 by Burkitt that dietary fiber reduces the risk of colorectal cancer, based on lower rates of this cancer in populations eating a high fiber diet.  The RDA of total fiber is 20-30gm.  In Scotland, for example, where the average fiber intake is very low at only 2-3gm per day, there is a very high incidence of colon cancer.

Since then, numerous studies and meta-analyses have been performed, with mixed results.  The situation is complicated by there being various different types of dietary fiber, by the long periods of time involved (colon cancer can take decades to develop).  The overall consensus is that, yes, a high fiber diet does reduce the risk of developing colorectal cancer – and eating a healthy, high fiber diet is good for many other reasons too.

Many studies involve only short-term adjustments to diet, or one specific fiber such as wheat bran.  Convincing epidemiological evidence suggests that a healthy diet has its greatest preventive effect as a lifelong commitment, not as a temporary measure.

Dr. Tim Byers, M.D., M.P.H. from the University of Colorado School of Medicine stated that "...observational studies around the world continue to find that the risk of colorectal cancer is lower among populations with high intakes of fruits and vegetables and that the risk changes on adoption of a different diet, but we still do not understand why." [NEJM, January 22, 1999, NEJM 342: pp.1149-62, 2000.]