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The fall season brings bright beautiful reds, oranges and yellows to the trees but also to our diets in the form of colourful fruits and vegetables.  If you’re looking for healthy food options this fall, seasonal fruits and vegetables are some of the healthiest foods that you should add to your plate.

Diets that are rich in fruits and vegetables provide many health benefits and the fall season brings bright fruits and vegetables right to your local farmer’s market. By including these seasonal fruits and vegetables into your diets, meals will not only taste (and look) better, they will also be healthier.

Apples as a Healthy Food

Apples are high in fiber and also contain vitamin C, calcium and folate all of which provide health benefits.  Additionally, recent research has found that apples contain a powerful anti-oxidant.  According to Best Health magazine,  the benefits of consuming apples in our diets include: maintaining healthy teeth, helping to prevent Alzheimer’s disease, protecting against Parkinson’s disease, decreasing cancer risk, decreasing diabetes risk, reducing cholesterol levels, maintaining a healthy heart, aiding with digestion, controlling weight, boosting immune system function and helping to prevent cataracts.  Be sure to eat the skin as well as the vitamin C is hidden just beneath it; but make sure to thoroughly wash the apple before eating it to get rid of any pesticides that may be present on the surface of the skin.   Adding apples into our diets is simple – add it as a snack on its’ own or as a topping to a salad or even baked if you want to satisfy that dessert craving that you’ve been having.

Pumpkins – Fruits and Vegetables You Don’t Expect

While many people use pumpkins as Thanksgiving and Halloween decorations, our diets should also include this incredibly healthy food. Pumpkins are low in calories and high in fiber, anti-oxidants (including vitamin A, C and E), vitamins and minerals.  Eating pumpkins can help to keep your diet and weight loss goals on track and may help to protect your eye sight and protect against age-related macular degeneration.  Additionally, pumpkin seeds also pack a punch with lots of dietary fiber and mono-unsaturated fatty acids which help to protect your heart.

Pomegranates

Once you get the hang of getting the seeds out of a pomegranate, you will reap the health rewards of your hard work.  Pomegranate seeds are packed with B vitamins, potassium and folic acid. Pomegranate seeds also have anti-inflammatory properties that may help to protect you from cancer and may help to prevent heart disease.

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Butternut Squash

Low in calories and packed with fiber, butternut squash is a top healthy food choice that is available during the fall season.   Butternut squash contains vitamin C, vitamin A and potassium.  Eating butternut squash helps to protect your heart, helps to keep your bones healthy and helps to keep your nervous and immune systems functioning optimally.  Butternut squash can be incorporated into diets easily as a soup, side dish or even a healthy dip.

Brussel Sprouts

While your kids may not like it when you sneak this veggie into their diets, it is a truly healthy food.  Brussel sprouts are low in calories, high in fiber and contain vitamin K, vitamin C and even some omega-3 fatty acids.  Some of the health benefits of eating brussel sprouts in our diets include: aiding digestion, helping with skin and blood vessel repair and helping to prevent age-related macular degeneration.

Many fruits and vegetables that are available during the fall are packed full of vitamins and minerals that will provide you will ample health benefits.  Try adding a few (or all) of the mentioned fruits and veggies into your fall diet to experience all of the colours and health benefits that this season has to offer.

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