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Nutritional content of ripening fruits and vegetables
Is it right that many vegetables and fruits change their nutritional content as they age or ripen. I have read, for instance, that carrots increase their betacarotene content as they age and over-ripe bananas increase their sugar content. Does this mean we should be eating foods that have been left to sit around?
The main thing that happens as fruit and vegetables ripen is that they increase their fibre content, which is excellent for cleansing the colon. That said, eating overripe and stale food goes against the healing principles of every natural health system from Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) to Western naturopathy where the emphasis is always on the `vitality’ of the food you are eating and not on individual nutrients .
If you are looking for optimum health, you would eat with the seasons, select fresh foods that have been grown locally, under organic conditions and then lightly cook them since although cooking will destroy a small percentage of the nutrients, it also breaks down the cellulose fibre to make those vitamins and minerals that survive cooking more bioavailable to the body.
On the subject of fruits and vegetables, I get many letters from despairing mums asking how they can persuade their children to eat the recommended five portions of fruit or vegetables a day. (This figure is combined, not five of each).
We have found the perfect solution at home in the shape of the new Rainbow Food Chart from Stewart Distribution (01273-703461). This clever idea turns the whole idea of eating enough healthy fruits and vegetables into a game for the entire family. You and the kids choose your funky animal sticker for the week and then every time you eat, say, a red food, you put a sticker in that Rainbow zone of the chart which you keep on the kitchen wall. Every time you eat a yellow food, you do the same and so on until you’ve reached five coloured foods each day. The chart, which is not available anywhere else, costs £7.95 and includes enough animal stickers for a family of five.