Include fruit in your daily diet with delicious, healthy desserts.

Fruit is one of the corner stones of our diet. It contains water, fibre, minerals and vitamins Thanks to these nutrients, fruit helps to improve intestinal transit, maintain fluid balance, improve the function of the nervous system and protect our tissues, fighting free radicals, so avoiding premature ageing.

The most popular fruit dessert is fruit salad, which can be made with any type of fruit and at any time of year. For a salad and also a delicious conserve, make a note of all these properties:

• Chop the fruit into equal pieces, without pips, stones and skin.
• Add lemon juice, so that the fruit doesn’t oxidise and lose the vitamins.
• To get all the flavour of the citrus fruit, such as oranges or strawberries, add a dash of vinegar. They will marinate in their own juice and will be more tasty.
• To give it an original twist put the chunks of fruit on skewers, or use the shell of a cantaloupe melon or a coconut shell as a container.
• For a special occasion, serve the fruit salad with a scoop of ice cream or a hot chocolate sauce. This turns it into a dairy dessert which will also provide protein and calcium.
• Try this fruit salad for a competition: banana, water pear, nectarine, melon, apricot, blueberries, cherries and orange juice. Full of vitamins A and C, powerful antioxidants such as anthocyanins and with anti -inflammatory and anti- bacterial properties.  Add sweetened syrup or a spoonful of sugar and orange liqueur.

If you like desserts with hot fruit,  fleshy fruits such as apples, pears or chestnuts are the best:

• Pears in wine, with vitamin C and group B vitamins. This is a diuretic, laxative, and sedative dessert and it will balance uric acid.
• Baked apples with cinnamon. These contain cysteine, vitamin B12 and phosphorous, which regulates liver function and intestinal transit. Improves the memory and balances glucose and cholesterol.
• Apple and chestnut sponge. With olive oil, this makes an excellent breakfast on a cold and wet weekend. Chestnuts provide moderate caloric intake, and vascular, anti-inflammatory and anti-constipation effects.

Don't go without a dessert. Brighten up your life with healthy and delicious fruit.

This post is also available in: Spanish