Due to workload, most people do not find the time to eat a regular meal at the acceptable meal times to maintain their well-being. The meal of the day that is mostly sacrificed for a large helping of fruits is lunch.

Some people also do not have appetite for breakfast probably because they have to leave home at dawn in order to get to work on time. They tend to fall on fruits as their breakfast. Others also feel that taking a lot of fruits for supper will rather help them to lose weight and prevent them from developing pot bellies.

Fruits give us a lot of benefits nutritionally; they are an excellent source of phytochemicals which help to prevent cancer. They provide the body with antioxidants that increase cell regeneration and turn over. They also contain significant amounts of fibre (both soluble and in-soluble). Fibre helps in bowel movement and the removal of cholesterol from meals rich in cholesterol by binding to them.

Consider the needs of the body It is always better to eat a balanced meal which will supply about 55 per cent of calories (energy) from carbohydrates, 30 per cent of calories from fats and about 15 per cent of calories from proteins. This is what the World Health Organisation recommends. When you take only fruits, you may not be able to get enough of these macronutrients.

The carbohydrate in fruits is more quickly absorbed as compared to that from complex carbohydrate foods. Meanwhile, there is a lot of advantage in taking these complex carbohydrates as found in yam, fufu, rice, “abladzo” and others. Their digestion process helps to maintain the integrity of the gastrointestinal tract. The length of time involved in releasing the sugar in them into the blood helps in blood sugar control.

Fats, oils and protein also keep you satisfied longer and feeling less hungry. When you take only fruits, you will soon be hungry again and end up taking something else.

You may even need more vitamins and minerals than you will find in fruits alone. Mind you, fruits are not the only sources of vitamins and minerals, though they are the main sources. Grains, cereals, oils, fats, meat and fish also contain some vitamins and minerals.

More than normal amounts of fruit sugar One often has to take from about six to ten fingers of banana and some roasted groundnuts to feel satisfied when the decision to have that combination at lunch is taken. If it is watermelon, you are sure to be taking about half or more of a medium sized one to fill your stomach. Doing this supplies too much fruit sugar to the body at a given time.

The best the body can do is to absorb just a little of the sugar for use immediately. The rest will be stored as fat because the body treats sugar as a very vital ingredient it must not lose. Mind you, the body uses sugar as a primary source of energy; the brain uses only glucose as its energy source.

Storing sugar as fat prevents its dissolution in water and thus, it is lost through excretory channels such as sweating, evaporation from the mouth, and urination. The stored fat will lead to overweight and obesity.

It is better to take fruits this way; Fruits can present a great deal of nutritional benefits if they are consumed in small quantities about three to five times in a day depending on the health or nutritional status of the one consuming them.

The following are my suggested quantities of fruits to be taken per serving; Orange (1 medium size), banana (2 small fingers), pawpaw (1 sardine tin size), grapes (palm full), watermelon (¼ of medium size), apple (1 medium size), mangoes (1 medium size), tangerines (1 medium size), pineapple (1 sardine tin size).

Someone who has normal body mass index and is moderately or highly active can take up to five servings of fruits. I advise all overweight and obese individuals as well as diabetes patients to take not more than three servings of the fruits mentioned above in a day.

A final word It is obvious from the foregoing that taking fruits as a main meal; breakfast, lunch, and supper is not advisable. Be careful not to confuse this practice with taking fruits alongside breakfast, lunch, and supper. Stay blessed, remember to eat well and stay healthy!!!