Summer is on the way, and the best way to cope with the heat, and pass the feared "bikini test", is a healthy, tasty diet. Fruit and vegetables are the best foods to fill up on without piling on the pounds, get ready for the heat, help your skin to tan and top up with vitamins. Fresh, with high water content and
low fat and calorie counts, fruit and vegetables offer you a healthy way to improve your daily diet with their wealth of minerals and properties, from those antioxidants to those toning up and detoxing your body. With the right consumption of fruit and vegetables, you can enjoy a summer full of flavour, without saying no to anything. Combat the classic heatstroke and prostration due to the heat by eating the right supply of fibre, mineral salts and vitamins, as well as helping your skin to tan and getting in shape for the holidays: fruit and vegetables, taken following the WHO's recommended daily amounts (at least 400g per day), are a valid aid not only for a healthy diet but also to cope with the summer months in the best possible way. Precisely during the summer, nature offers us a vast range of fruit and vegetables, pleasing to the eye and the palate with their wide variety of colours and flavours. Moreover, by choosing seasonal fruit and vegetables, you will get the best out of each product. For example? Eat an apricot during your lunch break to stock up on beta-carotene, which helps to protect your skin from rays of sunshine. What's more, apricots are very low in calories and have a high water content, which your body needs to stay hydrated and reduce water retention. Peaches are refreshing and provide fatigue-busting minerals like potassium and calcium. Melons are thirst quenching and have diuretic properties, while damsons are perfect if you're looking to detox and boost your energy, thanks to their content of fructose, mineral salts and vitamin A, ideal for slowing down the ageing of your skin. If you're looking to tone up your muscles, cherries are the best fruit for you, rich in re-mineralising and detoxifying substances. Don't stop with just fruit. Summer is rich in coloured vegetables: from courgettes with their high levels of fatigue-busting potassium and tomatoes containing antioxidants useful for keeping your skin young and healthy, to green beans rich in folic acid and potatoes, an extremely versatile source of vitamin C. To find out which fruit and vegetables are in season, or discover practical, tasty and original recipes, visit www.fruitylife.eu, created as part of the "Fruitylife – Fruit and vegetables, healthy and safe" project co-funded by the European Union together with the Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policy, and coordinated by Alimos-Alimenta la Salute, a cooperative formed of public institutions, farmers’ unions and cooperatives in the agri-food sector. On the site, you will also find lots of information on the European fruit and vegetable production, the 10 rules of healthy eating, nutritional tables, fun videos to get fruit and vegetables into our daily lives, interviews explaining labelling regulations, traceability and the various farming methods (organic and integrated lots) and the type of guarantees offered by quality denominations (DOP and IGP). You can also find useful and fun tips on the advantages of a diet rich in fruit and vegetables, and how to get children to eat them, on Fruitylife's Facebook page (www.facebook.com/FruitylifeEurope). Publication date: 6/24/2013. Source: Fresh Plaza, 
