2400 Calorie Diet: How Many Fruits
Do You Need Each Day?

Article by Diet Bites


The 2400 Calorie Diet recommends a minimal of two cups of fruit per day for optimum health in the area of this essential Food Group.

Smart Cooking Methods to Minimize Loss of Vitamins & Nutrients

All of the following tips can assist in your foods retaining the most minimal loss of nutrients. All are also very easy to achieve.

Actually, we should start before the cooking process even begins - at your local market as you shop.

Look for the freshest specimens possible. If the fruit involves a pineapple or cantaloupe, then use your sniffer to sense its level of freshness.

Look for any mold that might be on the food; fruits that are often plagued with such include berries - strawberries, blueberries, blackberries and raspberries. They have a very short shelf life in their natural state. When we purchase fresh strawberries and leave them out for easy access, they last for about one day before they start to crash downhill. They start to shrivel. When placed in the refrigerator, they will last a bit longer, but cooling them down impacts the ripened flavor of the fruit.

Pitfalls in Quality to Watch

Does the fruit have significant blemishes? What about bruising? A lot of shoppers can be too aggressive in the produce department and a few kidos like to press their little fingers into such.

Speaking of which, if little Johnny has just visited the raw meat department and placed a finger-dent into a package of ground beef, and then he pokes a hole into a juicy peach, pineapple or plum - the fruit is contaminated and can cause serious illness if consumed.

So search diligently for these unexpected holes or dents in the fresh fruit that you purchase. Almost makes one want to purchase nothing but frozen, commercially process fruits, doesn't it?


And once you get the fruit home, be certain to give it a thorough wash under cool running water before adding to the basket on your kitchen counter. Be sure to use the cool side of the faucet because heat breeds lingering bacteria.

As a note, when the food has several blemishes or is shriveled, it signals that it is past its peak - and when it comes to fruit, it should always be consumed in its freshest state.

Cutting Your Losses

Whenever we start breaking down a food - whether it is a fruit, vegetable or other kitchen subject, we are in turn breaking down some of the vitamin and mineral content contained therein.

Therefore, when possible you should enjoy the specimen in its natural state. With many fruits, of course this isn't a viable option. Oranges much be peeled, and one cannot possibly consume an entire black-diamond watermelon....without cutting into it.

If you must cut into the food, ensure that the knife (hacksaw or chain saw in the event that you are cutting a coconut) is free of germs, as well as the surface you are using to break down the food.

Cooking Methods Count, So Does Exposure to Elements

The longer that foods are exposed to the air, the more nutrients they will lose.

Steam foods and when you must boil, wait until the water reaches a boiling point before adding the food.

2,200 Kcal Plan | 2,400 Calorie Diet | 2,600 Kcals

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