Fruits: Gifts of Nature

[Photo credit: Source]

From the beginning (from the Garden of Eden, the Bible tells us), people have sampled a distillation of nature's goodness, in the form of fruits. Indeed, "Fruits are nature’s wonderful gift to the mankind; indeed, they are life-enhancing medicines packed with vitamins, minerals, anti-oxidants and many phyto-nutrients (Plant derived micronutrients). They are an absolute feast to our sight, not just because of their color and flavor but for their unique nutrition-profile that help human body free from diseases and keep it healthy!" - [Source]

Not surprisingly, with their importance in human life and diet, they figure prominently in the language, coloring and illustrating it. These These are usually positive or favorable: "The 'apple of (one’s) eye' is a favorite or well-like person...'Life is a bowl of cherries' means that life is easy...When everything is 'peaches and cream,' life is going well...A 'plum' assignment or job is a highly coveted one." - [Source]

Though, occasionally, they may be disagreeable or negative: "A 'lemon' is a flawed or worthless item; the idiom often refers to a vehicle...One is said to have 'sour grapes' when one belittles something one covets but cannot obtain." - [Source]

In any case, fruits generally connote ease or abundance: "A lawsuit is a fruit-tree planted in a lawyer’s garden." - [Source]

Fruits and Diabetics

Fortunately for diabetics, this goodness is not something forbidden to them. "Diabetics can eat almost every kind of fruit or vegetable. Fruits and vegetables are loaded with the nutrients that keep your body running smoothly. But they are also high in carbohydrates, which raise blood sugar levels, something diabetics need to be careful about." - [Source]

"An October 2011 study published in the “Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics” found that diabetics who ate adequate amounts of fruit were able to reduce two medical risk factors associated with cardiovascular disease. If you have diabetes, eating fruit daily provides your body with essential nutrients, helps control your blood sugar and reduces your risk for other illnesses such as cardiovascular disease." - [Source]

"The National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse suggests that people with diabetes consume two to four servings of fruit a day, depending on their calorie needs. If you require between 1,200 and 1,600 calories, aim for two fruits daily. Three fruits should be your goal if you need between 1,600 and 2,000 calories daily. People requiring 2,000 to 2,400 calories should consume four fruits daily. A serving is equivalent to a small piece of fruit roughly the size of a tennis ball, 1/2 cup of juice or canned fruit, 2 tablespoons of dried fruit or 3/4 cup to 1 cup of fresh berries or melon." - [Source]

Thus, the thing to do is to enjoy fruits, preferably fresh fruits, but to limit servings so as not to raise blood sugar.

Canned Fruits or Fruit Snacks

Unfortunately, fruits that are canned or packaged in syrup are not as available to diabetics. In addition to the natural sugar in the fruit, there is the added sugar which puts it beyond their reach. In the past, this would have limited diabetics to fresh fruits. Now, another door has opened for diabetics, as well as for dieters, with fruits from this category now available without added sugar.

At this stage, while the drought has been relieved, choices are still far from abundant.

In fact, only two brands have, as far as I know, have products - one with two products, another with one.

Sugar-free Fruit Snacks

Del Monte has two products. One, "pine-orange," contains chunks of pineapple, as well as segments of mandarin oranges. Another product, "tropical mix," which resembles fruit cocktail, a product immersed in syrup, is composed of chunks of pineapple, papaya, melon and a single cherry. Both fruit snack products are in fruit juice, found in fruit juice. The label not only contains the words "no sugar added," but, helpfully for diabetics, the number of fruit servings ("1 serving of fruit").

On the other hand, Dole offers mandarin oranges, in sealed plastic cups. The label reminds us that the mandarin orange segments are in "in 100% Fruit Juice".

All in all, it is, needless to say, an extremely limited choice. But, like the other products we have surveyed, it is a welcome development, a breakthrough, providing diabetics and dieters with a choice that, in the past, they could only dream of. And if there is sufficient demand, if diabetics support them, we can look forward to an even wider, more varied choice. As before, with the products we have surveyed, a sweeter life, an improved quality of life, for diabetics and dieters.

A stone from the hand of a friend is an apple. - [Source]

A strange land is a bilberry; one’s own land is a strawberry. - [Source]

A pear will never fall into a closed mouth. - [Source]

A lawsuit is a fruit-tree planted in a lawyer’s garden. - [Source]

7. Deeds are fruits, words are leaves.. English Proverb. Deeds are fruits, words are leaves. - [Source]

Food, one of the necessities of life, figures often in traditional expressions. Fruits and vegetables, specifically, account for some of the most familiar idioms, including the following. - [Source]

The “apple of (one’s) eye” is a favorite or well-like person. - [Source]

“Life is a bowl of cherries” means that life is easy. - [Source]

When everything is “peaches and cream,” life is going well. - [Source]

A “lemon” is a flawed or worthless item; the idiom often refers to a vehicle. - [Source]

1. A “plum” assignment or job is a highly coveted one.

32. One is said to have “sour grapes” when one belittles something one covets but cannot obtain. - [Source]

Fruits are nature’s wonderful gift to the mankind; indeed, they are life-enhancing medicines packed with vitamins, minerals, anti-oxidants and many phyto-nutrients (Plant derived micronutrients). They are an absolute feast to our sight, not just because of their color and flavor but for their unique nutrition-profile that help human body free from diseases and keep it healthy! - [Source]

“Martha Stewart showed up at Manhattan FBI Headquarters to have her finger prints taken and pose for a mug shot. Then Martha explained how to get ink off your fingers using seltzer water and lemon juice.” - [Source]

“We've got the power, we've got the juice. We should do the job.” - [Source]

“With him,i have found the juice, the sublime essence” - [Source]