It’s true that summer is almost over, but you still have time to take your taste buds on a vacation to a fruity paradise. Enjoy this refreshing and oh-so-colorful summer fruit salad, which features some of summer’s finest fruits: peaches, kiwis, and mixed berries. This isn’t your average fruit salad; rather, it’s a fruit fiesta that will delight your palate and make your body happy with all the different antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals. You know the flavor is there, but let’s talk about the benefits of these wonderful, seasonal fruits.

Berries Galore: Strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries contain lots of antioxidants, including vitamin C, which work to fight free radicals in the body. Berries are low-sugar fruits, so they may help keep your blood sugar in check. Plus, they may improve aspects of brain and heart health.

Kiwi Craze: These little tart, green gems of goodness burst with vitamin C. It may shock you to learn that kiwis contain more vitamin C than oranges, with one kiwi containing about 100% of your recommended daily intake of vitamin C. They also contain other beneficial compounds, including beta-carotene, zeaxanthin, lutein, vitamin K, folate, magnesium, copper, and phosphorus.

Peachy Keen: Get those fresh, seasonal peaches before they’re gone! Peaches are naturally rich in vitamins A and C, both of which encourage healthier skin and immune function. Eat your way to more radiant, beautiful skin while improving digestion with a healthy dose of fiber. Although you can blend them into smoothies or add them to desserts, peaches are best enjoyed fresh!

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The great thing about a food processor or high-speed blender is that you can transform two frozen ingredients into a delicious sorbet. Frozen bananas are no match for the power of these appliances! The best part about making a sorbet solely from fruit is that it doesn’t contain any added sugars, syrups, flavors, or dairy products.

Some sorbets (not all) incorporate dairy to yield a creamy consistency. By adding frozen banana, you don’t have to worry about the creaminess factor. Frozen banana helps create a smooth, creamy consistency, while also providing enough sweetness. If you find that the kiwi flavor is a bit to tart or intense, you can blend in a touch of raw agave nectar or maple syrup to sweeten the sorbet. If you do not enjoy the tartness of kiwis, consider golden kiwis instead. Will golden kiwis change the color of the sorbet? Yes, absolutely, but they have a sweeter flavor than green varieties.

It’s pretty incredible that you can enjoy a dessert just by blending together two ingredients. This banana kiwi sorbet is a much healthier alternative to store bought pints, quarts, or gallons. You don’t even want to look at how many grams of sugar per serving these store bought varieties have! Instead, make this healthy, raw vegan dessert this summer and enjoy it during warmer weather.

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Mangos, kiwis, blueberries, strawberries. A classic fruit salad. Add some lime juice and a bit of Tajin? Now we are talking!

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A nutritional survey found that about 95% Americans do not meet their recommended daily intake (RDI) of fiber. The RDI of fiber ranges from 21-38 grams, depending on your age and gender. Most people have a lot of room for improvement on this nutrient, which plays an essential role in regulating bowel movements, nurturing the gut, and filling you up. In this article, we detail easy ways to add more fiber to your diet. 

Try Chickpea Pasta

It’s hard not to love pasta, especially because you can usually throw a recipe together in 30 minutes or less. The unfortunate reality is that most people use jarred sauce (full of sodium) and boxed pasta enriched with poor quality ingredients. Instead of feeling tired and bloated, consider switching to chickpea pasta to increase your fiber intake. Two ounces of chickpea pasta (about one cup of noodles) offers eight grams of fiber, which is a major increase from two grams of fiber from regular pasta. Chickpea pasta also has twice the protein content as regular pasta and it’s gluten-free!

Add Lentils To Grain Bowls

You can easily customize grain bowls, but a lot of people like to use rice as the base. Rice, even brown rice, is not the best source of fiber. One cup of brown rice offers 1.6 grams of fiber, while a mere half-cup of lentils offers eight grams of fiber. If you enjoy rice, consider a lentil-rice mixture to enhance the fiber content of your grain bowl. Plus, a half-cup of lentils offers nine grams of protein, and a good portion of the fiber in lentils comes from prebiotics, which feed the probiotics in your gut. 

Blend Kiwis Into Your Smoothies

Kiwis have an incredible vitamin C content and they are bursting with antioxidants. They also contain fiber, with two kiwis offering four to five grams, depending on the size. Half of that fiber content, however, is concentrated in the skin. Most people do not enjoy snacking on fuzzy kiwi skin, though. In order to reap all the fiber benefits of kiwis, toss a couple whole kiwis into your smoothie. You won’t even taste the skin!

Eat Chia Pudding With Berries

Most dietitians agree that breakfast is the best meal of the day to load up on fiber-rich foods. In doing so, you will be full and energized until lunch, avoiding unnecessary snacking. Both chia seeds and berries contain a lot of fiber, despite their small size. A half-cup of raspberries and one tablespoon of chia seeds provide four grams of fiber, each. We have many chia pudding recipes available in our recipe section (click here) if you need some inspiration. 

Snack On Nuts And Figs

Each fig, depending on the size, generally provides one gram of fiber, and one serving of figs is roughly between three to five fruits. Pair those figs with a quarter-cup of almonds for four more grams of fiber and six grams of protein. That makes almonds and figs an ideal snack to give you a natural pick-me-up and fill you up between meals. 

Add Pears To Your Salads

Pears are sneaky fiber superstars, with one medium pear offering five to six grams of fiber. Can you enjoy pears as healthy snacks from time to time? Sure, but adding them to salads can give you a better fiber bang for your buck. Pair your pears with kale (one gram of fiber per cup) and other fiber-rich ingredients for a filling, lunchtime salad!

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Spinach is a low-calorie leafy green that contains vitamins A, C, and E, in addition to magnesium, zinc, and antioxidant compounds. Researchers note that leafy greens like spinach can help reduce inflammation in the body and improve immune function. It also helps maintain mucus membranes, which are essential for eyesight!

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Kiwis are great because they offer more vitamin C than oranges. They exhibit a slightly tart flavor with a sweet undertone, which comes through in this green anti-inflammatory smoothie. Some people don’t like their signature tartness, but blending them into smoothies with other ingredients may help sway that decision.

For this smoothie, the citrusy sweetness from the orange complements the signature kiwi flavor. The banana and raw agave nectar add a pleasant sweetness to balance the tart flavors. Even though this smoothie looks like blended grass clippings, the taste is far from that. In fact, you can always add a touch more agave if you prefer a sweeter smoothie. Just don’t go overboard with the agave because you don’t want this smoothie to be a sugar bomb, even if the agave is a natural sweetener.

Spinach is a great green to add to your smoothies because it doesn’t have a strong flavor. Add other fruit or nut butters, for example, to a spinach smoothie will completely hide the mild leafy green. Spinach is a low-calorie leafy green that contains vitamins A, C, and E, in addition to magnesium, zinc, and antioxidant compounds. Researchers note that leafy greens like spinach can help reduce inflammation in the body and improve immune function. It also helps maintain mucus membranes, which are essential for eyesight!

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One of the most dangerous aspects of high blood pressure is that there are no warning signs. The only way to know if you have high blood pressure is through a blood pressure reading. Over time, unchecked blood pressure levels can damage certain parts of the cardiovascular system and other organs, including the kidneys, brain, eyes, and more. 

There are lifestyle changes you can make to help naturally lower blood pressure levels, though. Healthy eating and regular exercise go a long way, but you already know that. There are other, smaller changes you can make to your morning routine that may benefit your blood pressure. Did you know that cardiac events, such as heart attack or stroke, are more likely to happen in the morning because of elevated morning blood pressure? That’s why tweaking your morning habits may be the best way to start lowering blood pressure levels. 

In this article, we’ll discuss a few morning habits that can be beneficial if you have a hypertension diagnosis, or if you want to maintain a healthy heart.

Eat A Balanced Breakfast

This tip seems simple enough, but so many people either eat an unhealthy breakfast or skip it altogether. A 2022 meta-analysis suggests that adults who skip breakfast have a higher risk of hypertension. When you eat matters, but what you eat matters more. A bacon, egg, and cheese breakfast sandwich is much different than a green smoothie or bowl of plain Greek yogurt with fresh fruit and nuts. Fruits and nuts, for example, are typical fixtures in the DASH and Mediterranean diets, which have been shown to benefit heart health. Kiwis, bananas, oranges, spinach, hazelnuts, almonds, and walnuts all have blood pressure-lowering capabilities. 

Exercise Regularly

Are you going to drop into a set of burpees immediately after rolling out of bed? Most likely, no, but a morning workout can support healthy blood pressure overall. A strenuous, high-intensity interval (HIIT) workout can temporarily raise blood pressure readings, but that’s completely normal. Experts recommend two and a half hours of moderately-intense aerobic activity per and/or 90 to 150 minutes of strength training per week. 

Morning Meditation

With work responsibilities and the ensuing commute to the office, it’s easy for stress to get the better of you in the morning. Getting your body to relax at the start of the day can have a positive effect on blood pressure levels. Harvard Health Publishing suggests that you can achieve this morning state of calm via meditation. Several studies show that a mindfulness-based practice, such as meditation, can help reduce systolic and diastolic blood pressure in people with mild hypertension. The body is prompted to promote more nitric oxide during a meditation session. This helps to widen blood vessels and ultimately lower blood pressure.

Limit Caffeine Intake

Sorry to say, but a morning cup of coffee can lead to unhealthy blood pressure levels, especially if you drink several cups. Caffeine, as you know, is a stimulant, which is why you probably drink it. While it may put a little pep in your step, it can also spike blood pressure. Researchers don’t fully understand the exact reason this happens, but some experts attribute it to the fact that caffeine may block a hormone that widens arteries. Two to four cups of coffee, which amounts to 200-300 milligrams of caffeine, typically elevates blood pressure by about 8mmHg systolic (the top number) and 6mmHg diastolic (the bottom number). Fortunately, this spike doesn’t last for too long, wearing off in a matter of hours. Just be mindful of coffee consumption if you deal with high blood pressure.

Skip Sugar

Your favorite breakfast items, from donuts to scones to cereal, contain a lot of added sugars. Too much sugar can negatively affect blood pressure. Health experts note that eating sugar, especially high fructose corn syrup, can affect hormonal pathways in the body. The hormone pathways it affects are peptide endothelin and aldosterone, both of which regulate blood pressure. High blood sugar levels also increase the risk of atherosclerosis (plaque buildup in arteries), which can lead to stiff arteries and high blood pressure. Prevent this from happening by skipping foods or beverages that contain added sugars. Any food that has a 20% or higher daily value (DV) of sugar is a high-sugar food.

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What separates this from every other juicing recipe out there? Nearly every juice is easy to make, but not every juice is the perfect combination of fruits and vegetables. You are probably familiar with juices that take like you tapped the earth for its juice. Not this recipe, folks! This cold-pressed yellow juice is refreshing, hydrating, and makes for the perfect addition to your breakfast. You can also enjoy it as a healthy snack to energize your body!

By now, you probably know of the “eat the rainbow” philosophy. The same applies to juicing the rainbow because there are numerous benefits to eating and drinking the produce color spectrum. Can you mix different colored fruits and vegetables? Absolutely, but it can be beneficial and easier to focus on one color at a time with juices. Plus, you can choose different colors to enjoy on separate days if you enjoy juicing. Here are a few benefits of the ingredients used in this recipe:

• Yellow carrots offer a lot of phosphorus and vitamin E, and they have a sweeter flavor profile than orange carrots.
• Pineapple is rich in bromelain, an enzyme that aids digestion and may help fight bacterial infections. It also offers lots of vitamin C, calcium, iron, folate, magnesium, and zinc.
• Mango contains high levels of vitamins A & C, which help maintain healthy skin, hair, and immune function.
• Golden kiwis are sweeter than their green counterparts and offer twice the amount of vitamin C than green kiwis.
• Golden beets contain nutrients that support heart health and healthy blood pressure levels. They also exhibit numerous essential vitamins and minerals.
• Ginger offers a spicy kick and is a true immune-boosting powerhouse that may help the body fight off infections.

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A mango kiwi smoothie is a delicious, tropical, and healthy drink that will surely become a favorite in your smoothie rotation. Although mangos are freshest during the summer months, you can typically find them year round. If you cannot find fresh mangos, frozen mangos can be an acceptable substitute. The sweetly tart combination of kiwi and mango makes for quite the enjoyable drinking experience!

The health benefits of this mango kiwi smoothie are numerous. Mangos contain essential antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals that help to boost immune function, promote healthy digestion, and reduce the risk of chronic diseases, such as cancer and heart disease. Nutritional data shows that kiwi is packed with vitamin C, an essential nutrient for strong immunity, collagen production, and skin health. Additionally, kiwis are also rich in fiber, which works to improve digestion and regulate blood sugar levels.

Moreover, the use of homemade almond milk in the smoothie adds protein, healthy fats, magnesium, and more fiber to the drink. That makes this smoothie an excellent choice for those who want to build muscle mass or strengthen their bones and teeth. Furthermore, the inclusion of chia seeds adds healthy fats and fiber to the drink, which may encourage healthy weight loss, reduce inflammation, and lower cholesterol levels. This mango kiwi smoothie is truly a healthy and delicious drink that offers a wide range of health benefits for your body.

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If you follow a low-carbohydrate diet or try to keep sugar intake to a minimum, you may be wary of fruit. Some people are of the mind that fruit is the enemy because of sugar content, while others believe that the natural sugars in fruit are perfectly fine. Although the sugars in fruit are natural, they can still affect blood sugar. This really depends on what you eat these fruits with and whether or not you have diabetes. 

Do you count carbs or do you simply pay closer attention to the glycemic load or glycemic index of the foods you eat? When you know which fruits are lower in sugar, however, you can help make choices that fit your dietary needs. Certain fruits are categorized as “low-sugar” because you can enjoy a larger portion for a smaller amount of carbohydrates and sugar. Most fruits also contain beneficial antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, and fiber, but if you are monitoring your sugar intake, focus on the following seven low-sugar fruits. 

Lemons

We know that most people are not biting into lemons to snack on, but lemons are great low-sugar fruits. One lemon contains about 2.1 grams (g) of sugar and 2.4 g of fiber. You can squeeze the juice from a lemon into water or into an herbal tea. You can also mix fresh lemon juice with olive oil to make a zesty salad dressing. 

Cranberries

You don’t really have access to fresh cranberries until the fall, and even during the fall you have a limited window to purchase them. With just 4 g of sugar per cup, cranberries are an excellent low-sugar fruit to enjoy. Not to mention, cranberries are excellent sources of antioxidants and phytonutrients, both of which help limit the damage caused by free radicals. According to several studies, cranberries may decrease the risk of urinary tract infections by about one-third in people at increased risk for infection. 

Berries

There are several berries to choose from, but the main low-sugar options are strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries. In a one cup serving, raspberries contain 5 g of sugar, blackberries contain 7 g of sugar, and strawberries 7 g of sugar. Blueberries have a higher sugar content, exhibiting 15 g of sugar per cup. That said, eating a moderate amount of blueberries can be beneficial, as they are rich in antioxidants and brain-boosting chemicals. All berries are rich in vitamins, polyphenols, and fiber, and they have a low glycemic index. In fact, berries have proven to significantly lower A1C levels in people with type 2 diabetes. 

Watermelon

Watermelon is both sweet and delicious, but it is surprisingly low in sugar. One cup of watermelon contains 45 calories and 9 g of sugar. Although watermelon has a high glycemic index rating, it contains few carbs and is 92% water, which gives it a low glycemic load. Glycemic load essentially considers the glycemic index of a certain food and the amount of carbs per serving. This gives you a more accurate picture of the food’s impact on blood sugar than glycemic index alone. 

Kiwis

Containing 7 g of sugar per fruit, kiwi ranks relatively low on the glycemic index scale. Not only is a kiwi a great source of fiber, but one fruit also provides 62% of the recommended daily intake (RDI) of vitamin C. A single kiwi contains about 48 calories and 2.3 g of fiber. Eat kiwis fresh, in smoothies, or in salads. If you want to keep them from spoiling, store them in the fridge. 

Apricots

If you want to snack on some low-sugar fruits, opt for apricots because two small fruits contain a total of 6 g of sugar. This pair of apricots will deliver 34 calories and 1.4 g of fiber. They are readily available during summer, which is when you can get the freshest varieties. Apricots are naturally rich in antioxidants called flavonoids, especially quercetin, catechins, and chlorogenic acids. These compounds help combat oxidative stress and can reduce inflammatory markers.

Avocados

Yes, avocados fall under the fruit umbrella. Not only are they rich in heart-healthy fats, but they also provide essential vitamins, minerals, and fiber. A single avocado provides 9 g of fiber and less than a half a gram of sugar. A recent study monitored participants who consumed avocado daily for a total of 12 weeks. At the end of the study, the participants showed improved blood sugar control, cardiometabolic risk factors, and insulin resistance. Avocados may even help improve heart health by lowering bad cholesterol levels.

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