What Are the Benefits of Eating Fruit in Autumn? A Look at Nutrition, Effects and Health Value
Among the many seasonal fruits of autumn, grapes are absolutely everyone's “favorite.” They taste sweet and tart, have an appealing color, and their nutritional value is extremely high, with benefits such as relieving fatigue, aiding digestion, and preventing cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, making them the top fruit choice for autumn. What's more, “eating grapes without spitting out the skins” is also a fine remedy for protecting the heart.
The Nutritional Value of Grapes
1. Grapes contain the minerals calcium, potassium, phosphorus and iron, as well as a variety of vitamins including vitamin B1, vitamin B2, vitamin B6, vitamin C and vitamin P, and they also contain various amino acids the human body needs. Regularly eating grapes is of great benefit for neurasthenia and excessive fatigue.
2. The sugar in grapes is mainly glucose, which can be absorbed by the body very quickly. When blood sugar runs low, drinking grape juice promptly can quickly ease the symptoms.
3. The various fruit acids in grapes help with digestion; eating a moderate amount of grapes can strengthen the spleen and stomach.
4. Research by French scientists found that grapes can block the formation of blood clots better than aspirin, and can lower the level of serum cholesterol in the body and reduce platelet aggregation, giving them a certain role in preventing cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases.
5. Traditional Chinese medicine holds that grapes are neutral in nature and sweet-sour in taste, entering the lung, spleen and kidney meridians, with effects that nourish qi and blood, benefit the liver and kidneys, promote body fluids, strengthen bones and muscles, relieve cough and restlessness, tonify qi and blood, and promote urination.
The Right Way to Eat Grapes: Eat Grapes Without Spitting Out the Skins
How should grapes be eaten? They should be eaten together with the skin. Some cardiovascular experts point out that “eating grapes without spitting out the skins” is not just a tongue twister, but also a fine remedy for protecting the heart. This is because the resveratrol contained in grape skins has effects such as preventing atherosclerosis, regulating blood lipids, inhibiting platelet clumping, lowering blood viscosity, and enhancing immunity.
When eating grapes, not only should you not spit out the skins, you can also eat the grape seeds along with them. This is because grape seeds contain a very strong antioxidant and anti-aging substance called proanthocyanidin, whose effects are dozens of times higher than vitamin C and vitamin E. But note that grape seeds are hard, sour and astringent, and are not easy to digest, so friends with poor digestive function and children are advised not to try them. If you do eat grape seeds, chew them thoroughly and only in moderation.
The Right Way to Wash Grapes
With food safety a worry today, the dust, pesticides and other substances on fruit skins make it hard to feel at ease eating the skin too. If you eat grapes without spitting out the skins, you must wash the grapes clean. How do you wash them? According to experts, after choosing good grapes, first pick out the bad ones and the ones with broken skins, then put the whole bunch of grapes into clean water and add flour equal to one third of the water volume, and soak for 5-10 minutes. After that, hold the whole bunch of grapes and gently shake it back and forth, and the impurities, insects and so on can be washed clean. Once the impurities and so on float to the surface, take the grapes out and rinse them repeatedly under running water for 5 minutes.
People Who Should Not Eat Grapes
It should be noted that although grapes are good, they are not suitable for everyone. For example, people with diabetes and patients with diarrhea should not eat grapes.
People with diabetes: Grapes contain a large amount of fructose, which easily raises blood sugar in people with diabetes, so people with diabetes should generally try not to eat grapes, and eating too many grapes can also easily cause diabetes in ordinary people.
Patients with diarrhea: People who often have diarrhea had best eat fewer grapes, because grapes have a digestion-aiding effect; if you eat grapes when you already have diarrhea, it will worsen the symptoms, so people with diarrhea had best eat fewer grapes.
People with deficiency-cold of the spleen and stomach: Many people have weak constitutions with symptoms of deficiency-cold in the spleen and stomach; at such times it is best not to eat fresh grapes, as this can easily lead to a decline in constitution and invite cold symptoms to invade. If you need to supplement vitamins and amino acids, it is best to substitute other fruits.