Outside of the fact that they taste good, what are the reasons behind the experts telling us that we need five servings a day?

Here are a few of the reasons as described by USDA:

• Fruit is naturally rich in potassium, dietary fiber, vitamin C, and folic acid.
• Diets with food containing dietary fiber may well reduce the risk of coronary heart disease.
• Other suspected benefits derived from eating fruits include:
• Reduced risk for stroke
• Reduced risk for type 2 diabetes
• Reduced risk for certain cancers including mouth, stomach and colon-rectal
• Reduced risk of kidney stones

To get the most benefits out of the fruit you add to your diet, consider these tips:

• Choose whole or pre cut fruit instead of juice to retain the benefits of dietary fiber
• Put fruits high in potassium high on your list. These include bananas, honeydew melons, orange juice and prunes
• If you are using canned fruit use the fruits canned with 100% fruit juice or water and not syrup.
• Mix up your choices. Different fruits have different nutrient contents and you will not get bored!

Traditionally, most fruit is eaten at breakfast which puts all that good nutrition into you body at the beginning of the day. Most top cereal with bananas or strawberries and drink a glass of orange or grapefruit juice.

There is not a thing wrong with this approach because some fruit is certainly better than no fruit at all.

But, instead of cereal and juice, how about starting your day with a fruit smoothie recipe loaded with fruit nutrition and amazing taste?

This smoothie mix adds a lot of healthy vitamins and minerals to your morning meal. Also, you might well find that this really interesting mix of fruits and vegetables to be an answer for a healthy way to begin a diet as fruit smoothie recipes work well with diets focused on healthy snack recipes, healthy snack ideas, and effective and healthy ways to lose weight.

In your smoothie blender mix:

• 2 red delicious apples (cored and seeded) With or without skin-your choice.
• 1/2 cup of raspberries (fresh is best, or frozen)
• 1/2 cup of strawberries (fresh is best, or frozen)
• 1 cup of small cherry tomatoes
• 1 red or yellow bell pepper (seeded ) cut in chunks
• 1 cup of chilled/cold V8 V-Lite
• 1 Tablespoon Chia Seed

This recipe will serve 3-4 people and they will rave about the rich combination of flavors. Serve in chilled glasses and enjoy!