I LOVE blueberries! So there's nothing better for me than to discover just how good fruit is for you---and I'm talking more than tasting good!

Low energy dense fruits make you feel full on 20% fewer calories.

Low energy dense fruits have higher water content. They also have 1200 different enzymes that help your liver's ability to flush fat out of your body thereby increasing it's metabolism by 35%.

The fiber and protein in fruit slow down water absorption this extends your sense of fullness by 2 hours. Juices and water don't last as long.

Water dense fruits have a lot of the water soluble fiber called pectin. Fat binds to pectin. It can block up to 90kcal of fat a day. (No wonder an apple a day keeps me away!) (Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center, Maryland)

Summer fruit eating is especially helpful. The long summer days enhance the operation of your endocrine glands, which speed up metabolism, boost your appetite suppressing serotonin levels and activate the liver to burn fat. Eating fruit in the summer is more effective in calorie reduction than any other time of year. (University of South Carolina School of Medicine at Columbia).

Fresh fruit stays on the vine longer and absorbs more nutrients. Yale University studies prove that indulging in antioxidant rich fruit reduces calorie intake by 20%.

Quite simply you have so much to lose by eating more fruit! Here's my list of great low energy dense fruits to put on your to eat list (kids and spouses too).

Berries--- Strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, and cherries (see our last blog entry).
Melon--- Watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew.
Citrus--- Oranges, grapefruit, tangerines.
Other goodies--- Papaya, peaches/nectarines, apricots, plums, pineapple.

Don't forget jello and of all things gourmet jelly beans (in moderation). The latter will have pectin that will bind to fat and flush it out before it gets in your system. Stay away from the jelly beans that don't have pectin. (These usually have large amount of corn syrup.) Jelly Belly® is a brand that is pectin based.