The powerful goodness of fruit

By Timmi Aplin-Barrett

The New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research principal scientist and leader of the Food and Health Information Team, Dr Carolyn Lister, says there’s no one amazing super food.

The key is to have a good variety. Carolyn says different fruits and foods contribute different things. Each fruit has a unique composition of nutrients and phytochemicals.

Nutrients are what the body absolutely needs to survive. Phytochemicals, on the other hand, are things that have health benefits but we don’t absolutely need them to survive.

Carolyn says some phytochemicals have only been uncovered recently, so we don’t know as much about them but they improve quality of life. For example, there’s evidence that blueberries help brain health.

“With aging and cognitive ability, anything that helps the brain function is good,” says Carolyn. “Blackcurrants and other berry fruit are often high in vitamin C and important for immunity. As people age, their normal ability for the body to function does decrease, so it pays to top-up immunity.”

Kiwifruit, Carolyn says, has benefits for digestive health. “As people age, their ability to digest foods does drop down. There are some thoughts around kiwifruit having real benefits for things like digesting meat. We haven’t got all the evidence yet but there’s pointers kiwifruit helps.”

The team at Plant and Food have shown fruits like blackcurrants can assist the process of muscle repair and recovery in athletes. This may also be important as people age and their bodies take longer to recover from exercise.

Not only this, but fruits can aid in bone and joint health. Carolyn says people often only think of calcium in milk and other dairy products when referring to bone health. However, some fruits can provide important nutrients other than just calcium.

“Plums and prunes can be valuable in terms of bone health while there’s some evidence for citrus benefiting joint health. For example, vitamin C is important for cartilage formation,” explains Carolyn.

She says quite a lot of issues with aging are also around inflammation, such as arthritis. Some phytochemical like anthocyanins, which give fruits their red, purple and blue colours, may be beneficial in managing inflammation.

“It’s important to have those really colourful fruits – the darker the better. If you’re going to have cherries, have darker cherries. There’s more punch in darker fruit,” she says.

Another thing people often forget is that the skins of fruit often contain their greatest nutritional value. “For example, there’s a lot of fibre in the skin of an apple so eating the skin, within reason, is a good idea. Go for things while they’re fresh. Some nutrients tend to decline as the fruit ages.”

It’s vital to have a wide range of fruits. Carolyn says they’re all important in their own way. “You’re better off having a good mix.”

For more information and to understand more about the nutritional composition of New Zealand fruits, and other foods, visit: www.foodcomposition.co.nz