Five Fruit Servings a Day – for 5 days!
Yesterday I ate my last mango. I had to take strawberries and a cantaloupe back to the store to get them replaced! That does not happen too often and thankfully my Harris Teeter is really good about replacing them! They said they would double my money back and I told them I just wanted the fruit! And actually it might even have been my fault for not eating them right away. But I still think that they should have lasted longer than 4 days at my house, don’t you?
Anyway – the challenge - Five Fruit Servings a Day – for 5 days!
TODAY IS the Mighty Cantaloupe!
Why mighty?
Well because, I like it and it’s low in calories so I can eat it all day. Two cups of diced cantaloupes is only 122 calories! Woo hoo!!!! I CAN eat it all day! Someone at my Toastmasters meeting said, “Oh but watch out! Cantaloupes are high in sugar!”
I replied with, “No. They are 61 calories per cup diced. Sugar is 4 calories per gram or 15 calories per teaspoon. There are 12 grams of sugar in a cup of diced cantaloupe which is 48 calories!”
Basically a cantaloupe is completely sugar and water. ;-)
BUT OK! That’s fine with me!!!!
For a single diced cup of cantaloupe :
There is .03 grams of fat (9 calories per gram of fat) = 2.7 calories of fat
There is 4 calories per protein and there is 1.3 grams of protein in a cantaloupe = 5.2 calories
We are up to 7.9 calories.
Now the sugar is only part of the carbohydrates and there is 12g of sugar but also in carbohydrates is fiber and there is 1.4g of fiber in a single diced cup of cantaloupe.
As I said before a carbohydrate is also 4 calories per gram so 13.4 x 4 = 53.6 calories added to the 7.9 for a total of 61.5 calories per cup of cantaloupe diced.
So there you have it.
But wait – that is a lot of sugar grams per cup, how is it for people with blood sugar issues like my husband????
Cantaloupe has a GI of 65 (that sounds high – but it’s not! It’s actually a low number!)
The Glycemic load or GL is only a 7.8 along with Watermelon (that’s tomorrow!!!! ). To put it in perspective a banana is 12.2!!! And the mango I ate yesterday was a 12.8 GL but a cup of grapes is only 6.5 GL and an apple, well that is 6.2 GL.
So go ahead and include a cantaloupe in your menu. But remember to count the calories because calories do count!
What are some of the other benefits of Cantaloupe?
OMG! According to MedicalNewsToday website, cantaloupes are full of antioxidants! Also mentioned was that cantaloupes helped protect the eyes from age related macular degeneration. And asthma – I have that – well attacks are lower with people who eat beta-carotene rich foods like cantaloupes!
OMG it’s a long list from Blood pressure to Hair and Skin to protecting against Cancer!
Here’s the link. You can read all about the benefits while you eat that cantaloupe!
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/279176.php
Remember the challenge is - Five Fruits a Day – for 5 days!
NOW if you are someone who likes a real CHALLENGE try this
Five Fruit Servings a Day – for 5 days!
And
Five Vegetable Servings a Day – for 5 days!
Most Vegetables have round 35 calories per serving. Of course for me figuring out what size a serving is – is the hardest part! I mean, seriously, some people think a serving size is the size of the bowl or plate and if you use a bigger bowl or plate it doesn’t change the calories…. Because it’s a serving… your serving!!! WRONG!!!
A serving size varies.
A serving of carrots are about 1 cup or 12 baby carrots
A serving size of radishes is about 8 radishes or a handful??? What?? See, it’s hard.
But both of these are really low in calories.
Those 8 radishes equal only 11 calories vs the carrots of 35 calories.
On the other hand a serving size of corn is 1 cup and 133 calories!!!
And Peas (I love peas!!!) is only half a cup and 55 calories (that would mean a cup is 110 calories!!!)
OH but I also like Broccoli and Cauliflower!!!
A cup of each of these? Only 25-30 calories.
Now you can eat what you want – but --- please count calories and --- for 5 days….
(4 after today if you started today)
Five Fruit Servings a Day – for 5 days!
And
Five Vegetable Servings a Day – for 5 days!