The best way to stay healthy is to eat fruit for lunch and maintain a healthy diet for your other meals providing a sound foundation for a healthy lifestyle. Fruits are an excellent lunch food for everyone because they make healthy snacks and desserts.
Taking the edge off
Eating fruit on a lunch time can decrease appetite for the actual meal. The fructose found in the fruit supplies a quick energy boost and the fiber creates a feeling of fullness. For kids at normal weights, wait to serve fruit at the beginning of a nutrition dense lunch to pack in as much fuel and healthy calories as you want them to consume. An apple or a handful of grapes in a lunchbox is a sweet choice before a sandwich on whole wheat or a veggie wrap spread with creamy dressing. A bowl of fresh peach slices can be eaten just before some reheated spinach lasagna at the kitchen table.
Weight loss strategy
Those who are overweight need a carefully monitored diet to lose excess weight. Harping on calories can make you self-conscious and resentful, but timing snacks will encourage eating less. Prepare a healthy lunch, but consume half-dozen whole strawberries shortly before it is time to eat. The sweet berries deliver a good dose of vitamin C and their fiber helps dieting people feel less hungry. You will happily consume a lighter lunch without feeling deprived and the fruit provides extra nutrition to keep your feeling full longer. For a pre-lunch snack, whole fresh fruit is more filling and lower in calories than dried fruit or juice.
Late lunch
If lunch is late, keep the peace with a quartered orange or a dish of fresh pineapple chunks. Both have lots of potassium and fiber. Oranges are high in vitamin C and folate. Dried fruit is another good holdover that is low prep and portable. Mix raisins with nuts for a nutrition dense trail mix, or hand out some sugarless dried mango slices that take a while to chew, so will have a time to prepare dinner.
Fruit as fat prevention
When you know that a lunch is not going to be the healthy meal you prefer to serve yourself a mini meal of fresh fruit. Mix blueberries, kiwi slices, raspberries and mango or guava chunks into a quick fruit salad that keeps everybody’s blood sugar on an even keel until the fat food or high calorie sauces are served. Your kids won’t be hungry enough to overeat and you will eat less unhealthy food, too. The beauty of it is no one needs to know you’d rather skip the saturated fat they slaved over. Save face and save the diet with the stealth tactic of some well-timed fruit.
Choose fresh fruit
Packaged fruit juices, smoothies and fruit snacks often have additives like honey or fruit juice concentrate; both of them gain calories without adding nutritional value. By selecting fresh fruits you will add needed calories and nutritional value.
Regulate your digestion
If you start your lunch with unsweetened grapefruit or grapefruit juice, you will easily regulate your digestion.
Dietary fiber
Consume any high fiber fruits for lunch. Eat pears, apples and berries for a significant amount of dietary fiber and water content.
Prepare fruit with other nutrient dense and low calorie foods. During lunch and throughout the day include all kinds of fruits unsweetened and mostly fresh. Nuts and seeds are healthful garnishes for fruit; consume them in moderation.