Eating healthy is fast becoming a way of life. American’s are living longer, however, goal of many is not to simply live longer, goal it is to live a longer and healthier life. Simple everyday fruit can help.

Recent studies have indicated that antioxidants in fruit provide a whole host of health benefits: anti-aging power of blueberries and joint pain relieving properties found in cherries to name a few.

The multitudes of health components found in fruit are truly a gift from Mother Nature. Here are a few everyday fruits for healthy living in 2005:

Cherries – The Supercharged Fruit:

Are cherries truly fruit for a healthy you? Recent studies have revealed that cherries offer an assortment of health benefits including ability to offer natural relief from joint pain caused from gout, arthritis and joint inflammation.

The wonder of cherry is anthocyanins. According to research from Michigan State University tart cherries contain anthocyanins and bioflavonoids, which inhibit enzymes Cyclooxygenase-1 and -2, and prevent inflammation in body. These compounds have similar activity as aspirin, naproxen and ibuprofen.

Further investigations revealed that daily consumption of cherries has potential to reduce pain associated with joint inflammation. Many are choosing to drink cherry juice, eat cherries or consume tart cherry pills for relief of gout, arthritis and joint pain.

Food is one of our most basic needs. However, in our modern society fresh food is a thing of past. The so called fresh fruits and vegetables we buy today have little nutritional value because they are grown in nutrient-deficient soil, picked before they ripen naturally, gassed, irradiated, artificially ripened and stored for days before we eat it. Therefore, our diets lack essential building blocks of functional foods vital to our health and well-being.

WHAT HAPPENS IF WE DON'T GET THESE FUNCTIONAL FOODS?

Without functional foods body cannot continue miracle of healing itself as these foods provide raw materials needed to assist in this healing process thus giving body fuel to perform at optimum levels. Without sufficient functional foods following four problems exist for most people:

*Starvation: since most of our food is nutritionally starved; *Toxicity: many food products including raw fruits and vegetables contain toxins not to mention air we breathe and water we drink, which actually work against our body's natural healing process; *Stress: as a result of malnutrition and high levels of toxicity; *Degenerative disease: which can be symptomatic of nutritional deficiency and as a result of stress on body.

WHAT ARE THESE FUNCTIONAL FOODS?

Functional foods or Neutraceuticals are "foods that are thought to prevent disease" (Harvard Health Letter April '95). The building blocks of functional foods are called phytochemicals (plant chemicals) These phytochemicals (carbohydrates) are naturally occurring bioactive substances that prevent diseases by interacting with body's innate healing process to maintain vibrant health and energy.

WHAT IS THE SOURCE OF THESE PHYTOCHEMICALS?

Of 200 simple sugars (glyconutritionals) occurring in plants, only eight are known to be essential for cell- to-cell communication. These are only found in food that is ripened on vine/tree and remain active for 48 hours after being picked. However, only two of these, glucose & galactose are found in modern diets. The body can convert these two into six missing sugars, but this enzymatic process is long (up to 20 steps), unreliable and error-prone. Thus we need to supplement our diets with these missing sugars.

WHY ARE THESE glyconutritionals SO IMPORTANT?