Making a conscious decision to consume more fruits and veg as part of healthy diet is a no-brainer. We are all aware cutting calories and adding colour to the plate will help shed weight and provide the body with whole food nutrition, naturally balanced for optimal utilisation.

So what matter should the platter choices make?

All fruits contain elements of good nutrition but some supply more benefits per bite than others. Discerning a prize pick comes down to criteria, calorie vs content and flavour vs points in favour.

GI is a Great Guide!

One way of weighing up your options is by using the GI Index and GI Load as a guide to which fruits sustain energy and support good health vs those which act like natures candy. The GI rating measures the effect of a food on blood sugar relative to pure glucose. The GL takes into account how much of the carbohydrate is in the food. A knowledge of both will help you steer clear of empty calories, mood swings and cravings.

Checkout this Chart which includes GI and GL levels for fruits and other foods.

Antioxidants are an Advantage!

Stress accumulates and influences physical well-being in a number of ways, work, environment, mental attitude and of course food choices all take a toll on our bodies immune system. To combat counter-productive renegade radicals your best bet is to consume fruits high in antioxidants. These mighty molecules are capable of slowing or preventing oxidation which creates free radicals that damage cells.

Check the antioxidant power of different fruits (and veggies, herbs, etc.) with the ORAC report (PDF), ORAC standing for Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity. It’s a database of antioxidant levels compiled by scientists at the National Institutes of Health, specifically the National Institute on Aging.

Gauge your fruit by how its Grown!

Wild and organic fruits with out chemical treatment or genetic modification not only boast more flavour but are chemical-free fruits to favour. Loading up on antioxidants is a good start to tackling toxins but eliminating the edible culprits is one step better. Avoid shinny apples scrubbed and rubbed to perfection and coated with waxy substances to catch your eye and preserve shelf life as they contain chemicals which are harmful to your health. Look for labels that indicate the produce is 100% organic.

Click here to learn the logistics of labels and how foods are rated.

Alternatively if you know what to look for and feel competent in your knowledge of wild foods you could become a huckleberry hound and forage for fruits in more remote areas away from traffic and free from pollution.

The following overview offers insight into the growing interest and industry for Wild Fruits! Make a conserve and learn how to preserve your foraged finds with this pdf on Wyoming’s Wild Berries and Fruit.

Workout Warriors on a mid-day run over jagged peaks and parched landscapes go further and faster when properly hydrated.

To avoid bonking in a baron battlefield try our juicy booster the Thirsty Camel its loaded with hydropower to help you go the distance in the desert!

1. Plug in your Power Blender (Champion Choice- Vitamix ‘the V8 of blenders’)

2. Bung in some big size chunks of pineapple (with a V8 engine you don’t waste time dicing)

3. Crack open a green coconut and pour into your V-8 tank (need help busting your nuts try using a Coco Tap)

* The Coco Tap is a ‘marine grade’ stainless steel tube with a sharp spike at one end, designed specifically for cracking green nuts)

4. Finally add a splash of the secret ingredient (Nature’s Goodness Australia Acai Power juice concentrate)

* Açaí Power is a potent source of antioxidants – substances which protect the body from the harmful effects of free radicals and oxidative damage.

Some insect insights that you might not Bee aware of:

Honey is not made from bee pollen instead honey comes from plant nectar or from a substance called ‘honeydew,’ a residue from insects which feed on sweet tree sap.

Bruce Boynton, chief executive officer of the National Honey Board explains “Honey is the substance made when the nectar and sweet deposits from plants are gathered, modified, and stored in the honeycomb by honey bees. Pollen is not a raw material for honey. While pollen is brought back to the hive by the bees, it serves as a source of protein for young bees.”

Kim Flottum, editor of the industry journal Bee Culture reflects on the liberal logic associated with this condensed perspective saying, “Lighter honey is made from pollen? Good grief. And dark honeys are made from honey dew, by your definition completely made from insect droppings, and nothing else?”

Dark honeys or honey dew are made when bees utilize the sugary substances other insects leave on trees and plants (in a sense insect poop) but other essential elements are also present so when you present the public with distilled information people will remain in the dark about the other beneficial properties in honey.  

Although you may quince at the thought of drizzling droppings on your morning toast, honey harvested in this manner does contain a richer profile of amino acids and antioxidants, according to Flottum and Boynton.

Bee Resources:
Bug Bios
Bee Culture
Whole Foods- Honey
National Honey Board
The Bee Keepers Blog