Feeling fruity

Fruit is high in the vitamins and minerals needed by runners

As a group, fruit gives a runner a good source of vitamin C, vitamin A, folate (vitamin B9), dietary fibre and potassium. Some fruit also contains significant amounts of iron and other minerals.

Vitamin C helps your body to absorb iron, boosts the immune system and lowers blood pressure. Fruit is an excellent source of vitamin C with significant amounts found in grapefruit, kiwi fruit, lemons, mandarins, mangoes, oranges and berries especially strawberries, blackberries, blueberries and mulberries.

Vitamin A helps cell reproduction. It also stimulates the immune system and helps bone growth. Vitamin A is found in most fruits but has significant amounts in yellow and orange fruit such as mangoes, rockmelons and papaya.

Folate is needed to produce red blood cells, essential for runners as these carry the oxygen that we need to our hard working muscles. Folate is found naturally in berries such as blackberries, strawberries and raspberries as well as in dates, oranges, pineapples and pomegranates.

Fruit that is high in soluble fibre, including apples and citrus fruit, help to manage cholesterol.

Potassium is necessary to keep a normal water balance between the cells and body fluids and runners often put this balance out of kilter. Lack of potassium can cause cramps, twitching and even an irregular heart beat. Good sources of potassium are bananas, blackcurrants, cherries, dates, grapefruit, kiwi and watermelon.

Good iron levels are critical for runner. Iron is responsible for red blood cell formation and a lack of it in the body may lead to a weaker blood supply to your muscles during running exercise. Help to increase iron levels with blackberries, blackcurrants, cherries, dates, figs, kiwi, lemon, raspberries and strawberries.

So those are some of the good things you can get from fruit. It's also good to know that fruit is generally is low in the bad things such as fat and sodium (salt).

How much should you eat?

Runners should aim to eat at least two average sized pieces of fruit each day, preferably raw, and this is generally better than drinking juice. Over three apples are processed to provide just one glass of apple juice but the fibre is reduced and it doesn't fill you up as much as whole fruit. Drinking lots of fruit juice can also add extra calories to your diet. Of course this is fine if you need the extra energy but not so good if you are trying to cut back on your intake of calories.

To improve your intake of fruit you can eat it:

at breakfast - add to cereal and yoghurt or put them on top of pancakes or waffles

at lunch - add to main meal dishes and salads

at dinner - have fruit for dessert

Remember that fruit can provide an endless variety of flavour, texture, shape and colour to add interest to your meals.