Strawberries: It’s now the season for strawberries. They contain 1.5 times more vitamin C than oranges and 10 times more than apples. Eating just 6–7 strawberries a day can meet your daily vitamin C requirement. Vitamin C activates the adrenal cortex, which regulates hormones, making it especially important in spring when the body tends to feel fatigued. Additionally, anthocyanins, an antioxidant found abundantly in brightly colored fruits, help reduce neutral fats in the blood and increase high-density lipoprotein (the “good” cholesterol), thereby lowering the risk of metabolic syndrome. Mashing strawberries and mixing them with milk enhances calcium and iron absorption. However, eating them with sugar can destroy vitamins, as the sugar breaks down in the body and consumes the nutrients in the strawberries.
Tomatoes: Tomatoes are rich not only in vitamins B and C but also in beta-carotene. They can help reduce carcinogens in grilled meat, so it's best to eat tomatoes along with meat or fish. Moreover, tomatoes contain lycopene, which helps prevent vascular diseases and has anti-cancer effects. Cooking tomatoes can increase the absorption rate of lycopene by 2–3 times.
Cantaloupe: Although known as a summer fruit, cantaloupe can be eaten starting from late spring. At this time, the body’s fluids can easily become acidic, and eating cantaloupe helps maintain an alkaline state. It also has diuretic properties that aid in eliminating bodily waste. When choosing cantaloupes, look for ones that are bright yellow, oval-shaped, and firm—they tend to taste better. However, if the stem end is overly sweet, it may indicate the fruit was picked too long ago.
Peaches: Peaches are rich in protein and amino acids, which help keep skin firm. They also contain pectin, which has excellent whitening effects and is often used in cosmetics. The most important factor when eating peaches is temperature. The optimal temperature for enjoying peaches is 8–13°C, at which they taste the best. Also, avoid eating peaches straight out of the fridge—let them sit at room temperature for a while first.
Apples: Peeling an apple causes you to lose about one-third of its nutritional value. Apple skins are rich in antioxidant flavonoids and ursolic acid, which help increase muscle mass, prevent muscle atrophy, and are beneficial for conditions like periarthritis of the shoulder. However, because apples are high in sugar, eating them on an empty stomach may irritate the stomach lining.