Hippocrates, the father of medicine once said, “Let food be your medicine”. Experts have long known that what we eat affects our health so they have conducted numerous studies and developed medicines to help us in our constant struggle towards attaining optimum health.
But did you know that instead of taking in heavy doses of synthetically developed vitamins and drugs, it is till best to eat fresh fruits and vegetables. Yes, the best sources of your vitamins and other health nutrients are your fruits and vegetables.
A good example for this is the vitamin C that you get from apples. One small apple and can give you about 1400 grams of vitamin C. That’s like taking in 3 tablets of vitamin C supplements. Apples also produce antioxidants that can help detoxify our body.
Another proof that will convince you that fruits and vegetables are better than tablets is in relation to the absorption of vitamin C in the body. According to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition vitamin C coming from a citrus fruit extract is 35 percent more absorbable than that of ascorbic acid.
In terms of retention, it has been observed that the body retains the energy better if it comes from a natural source rather than from a synthetic source. Say for example vitamin A. In a medical science research, it has shown that vitamin A from carrots and squash are being absorbed 940 percent better as compared to those who are artificially synthesized.
With these examples, you can clearly see that fruits and vegetables are really important for us to stay healthy. That is why, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or CDC launches its campaign called “5-a-day” which encourages all people to eat five servings of vegetables and fruits everyday. This practice has proven to protect your body from diseases.
Bottomline eating at least 5 servings of fruit and vegetables a day is the classic secret to stay healthy.