30th entry - A Life-long Passion with Fruits

According to nutritionists in Singapore, everyone should eat at least 2 serving of fruits a day to maintain good health. The proverbial apple a day is no longer enough to keep the doctor away, especially when the typical Singaporean's diet usually contains plenty of preservatives and food additives or are grossly inadequate in the area of essential vitamins, minerals and dietary fibre - both of which contribute to a general weakening of our body's own immune system.

It is true that many essential vitamins and minerals can be obtained from supplements. There are many to choose from in the market these days, and pharmacies, supermarkets and "healthy-living" product stores have shelves full of all sorts of pills and capsules. I take supplements too - acidophilus and glucosamine capsules - to maintain my intestinal health and joint health respectively. But these supplements are good substitutes at best. My question is: why go for substitutes when the real thing is cheaper, available in abundance and variety (at least in Singapore) and tastier too? I mean, has anyone ever tasted vitamin tablets? If they taste good, its probably due to the food flavouring.

Nothing comes close to the taste of real, fresh fruits. The sweetness, juiciness, sharpness and unique fragrance of golden pineapple ... the saturine nectar, light aroma and soft, brightly colored flesh of ripen papaya ... the cheerfully yellow and soft, juicy meat of mango with its distinct sugary taste ... the fresh, thirst-quenching and satisfying crunchiness of watermelon ... the delicate, soft creamy sweet flavour of honey/rock melon (honeydew) ... These are only to name a few!

In fact, every fruit not only comes with its own unique appealing appearance, flavour and texture, but each fruit is also packed with its own unique blend of essential vitamins, minerals, digestive enzymes and dietary fibre. The fruitspages website offers a table containing the nutritional value of many types of fruits. By eating a variety of fruits, we can ensure that we would have a good mixture of nutrients, enzymes and fibre. It is also important to eat enough of fruits - at least 2 pieces a day for a start.

Many people eat fruits after a meal, sort of as a dessert. I understand that we can take moderate amounts of fruits at any time of the day. However, for normal detoxification purposes, fruits should be taken in the morning before any other food (preferably eat only fruits for breakfast and refrain from other diet until lunchtime). For better absorption of fruits, it is prudent to consume them at least 30 minutes before a meal, not after. To aid digestion, eat small portions (e.g. between 100-200g) of acidic fruit and those rich in enzymes e.g. pineapple, papaya and citrus fruits after a meal.

Dried fruits and fruit juices (especially the ones available off-the-shelf, containing artificial flavourings and preservatives, and made from juice concentrate) are not good substitutes for fresh fruits. In fact, freshly squeezed juice may not be as good as fresh fruit as well, because some nutrition is lost in the juicing process. Also, fruits should be taken as far as possible with its skin, but of course, not all fruits can be eaten this way e.g. papaya and mango and orange and melon skins are edible (and in fact contain considerable vitamins) but they are hardly tasty!

Some fruits, like tomatoes, are better when cooked or taken with a bit of oil. Salads with some amount of olive oil dressing, vinagrette and salt to taste could be prepared with fresh fruits cut into small pieces. The fruits naturally enhance the flavour of otherwise bland vegetables and add sweetness to moderate its bitterness. Fruits like guava would greatly enhance the texture and nutritional value to any salad, without overwhelming its own characteristic flavour and taste.

Fruits can also be cooked in a variety of ways. Many of us are familiar with fruit jam, snacks and pastries. For jam, I prefer the sugar-free ones like St Dalfour's because they are not only a healthier choice but are also tastier. As for the others e.g. dried fruit crisps and fruit-flavoured biscuits - well, I can only say that they offer a close "semblance" of fruits at best. Certain pastries contain fresh fruits e.g. peach and mixed fruit tarts/tartlets and cakes, which would be better than fruit pies because the high-heat baking process destroys most of the essential nutrients of the fruits.

There is a particular fruit that I have grown quite fond of lately - dragonfruit. There are 3 kinds - white, red and yellow. The parent plant looks like a cactus, and the fruit looks like a wierd pineapple. The flesh is juicy and soft, and full of tiny black, edible seeds. The red-meat variety is sweeter than the white-meat one, but the smaller yellow-meat one from South America is the sweetest of all. The reason why I am fond of it is because my darling S went to the trouble of going to Johor Bahru (Malaysia) to buy 4 large pieces of red-meat dragonfruit for my parents, who like the fruit. S is soooooooo incredibly sweet - 100 times sweeter than the delicious dragonfruit ... :-)