The first commandment of healthy living is to eat plenty of fresh fruits. However, did you know that some fruits are healthier than others? Fruits do not have any added sugars but many fruits are rich in natural sugar. However, here are 11 fruits which have lowest sugar content.

Limes and lemons: Limes and lemons are known as sour fruits. While they are rich in vitamin C, they do not contain a lot of sugar. Freshly squeezed lime juice and hot water is the perfect drink to curb your appetite and raise metabolism.
Raspberries: Raspberries are rich in fiber but have only a little more than a teaspoon of sugar per cup. This makes them the perfect fruit to start the day with.
Strawberries: Strawberries may taste sweet but a cup of fresh strawberries has only about 7 grams of sugar. However, a cup of strawberries has enough vitamin C to take care of your daily requirements.
Blackberries: A cup of these berries also has minimal sugar. Along with fiber, these fruits are also rich in antioxidants. These berries also help lower the risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and other such conditions.
Kiwi: Did you know that kiwis are technically berries? Each kiwi has less than 6 grams of sugar but is very rich in vitamin C.
Grapefruit: A grapefruit is a perfect breakfast. These citrus fruits are rich in fiber and low in sugar. Half a grapefruit contains only 52 calories and minimal sugar. They are also rich in vitamin A, vitamin C, and potassium.
Avocado: Avocados are naturally low in their sugar content. One raw avocado has less than a gram of sugar. However, they are full of vitamin C, vitamin K, folate, and potassium.
Watermelon: Summer would be incomplete without watermelons. Though they taste sweet, watermelons are very low in sugar. A cup of watermelon has less than 10 grams of sugar.
Cantaloupe: Cantaloupes are rich in vitamin A but a cup of this fruit has only about 14 grams of sugar. They are also rich in vitamin B, magnesium and fiber.
Oranges: Eating an orange is the best way to boost our vitamin C levels and keep infections away. One orange typically contains less than 70 calories and 12 grams of sugar.
Peaches: A medium sized peach has less than 13 grams of sugar. This is an example of how taste can be deceptive when it comes to calories.
Given the sugar content in these fruits, it would be a great idea for the diabetics and weight watchers to include them in their diet and have a healthy and hearty meal. If you wish to discuss about any specific problem, you can consult a General Physician.

11 Best Fruits That Are Low In Sugar Content!

With the super busy lifestyle that everybody is gravitating to, there is less and less time for everything, including cooking and eating. Thus, more and more processed foods are finding their way into our refrigerators, as they can just be picked up and eaten anytime hunger pangs are felt. And, we do not immediately realize that processed foods are devoid of all the essential ingredients. What we end up eating has less fiber, more salt, and more preservatives (generally not very safe for all), all leading to an unhealthy lifestyle.

Refined flour, white sugar, cheese, canned juices, frozen foods, cheese laden pizzas and breadsare all yummy, but not something that is readily accepted and digested by your stomach. Try eating pizza with loads of cheese for two days and experience the bloated feeling for yourself. Not to scare you, but imagine this; you would have to eat an entire medium pizza to get 2 g of fiber. Where as, your body requires about 25 to 40 g of fiber per day for regular health maintenance.

Biologically, our digestive system requires a lot of fiber, which adds to the roughage. This is very important as it helps in digestion and aid in cleansing the bowel later. The function of the large intestine is to remove water and essential ingredients when food passes through it. Junk food passes through quite quickly, thereby, leading to loss of water and ingredients. A lot of digestive issues are also related to lack of fiber in the food, like polyps, colon cancer, irritable bowel syndrome, high cholesterol, and obesity. 

Most of us are aware, but tend to ignore the fact that junk food is as the name suggests, junk. There is hardly anything of nutritious value in it. On the contrary, it contains lots of salt, fat and artificial chemicals, which though, make it very tasty, but has zero nutrition value. 

Try to eat only junk food for about a week regularly, and you will surely feel:

1. Bloated (a lot of gas due to indigestion)
2. Dehydrated (excessive salt needs more water, which we don't realize)
3. Constipated (lack of fiber leading to reduced bowel movement)
4. Weak and lousy (due to lack of nutrition)

This of course does not include the harmful effects on skin, hair, looks, etc. It does not mean you have to stop eating junk completely and eat only healthy food all the time. The human body is adaptive and can adjust to a lot of variations. It is not wise to try the example above (eating pizza for a week), however, binging on junk food once a week would definitely not hurt. Use your discretion as nobody knows your body as well as you do.

Constipation and Junk Food

A great alternative to refined sugar, honey is packed with essential nutrients and is really delicious to eat. There are many health benefits of honey. It can be easily added to any diet as a topping, say for fruit salads, ice-creams or as a spread. But are you aware that the jars of this tasty golden liquid can sometimes not be honey at all but syrup that tastes exactly like honey? So, How do you evaluate if you are buying real honey?

In order to boost profits, honey manufacturers dilute their product with adulterants such as flour, syrup or molasses and even sand and chalk. If you want to get the most out of this tick liquid, you should buy only pure honey.

What Is Pure Honey?
Real honey is not produced in factories but from bees. Usually, organic and natural honey are referred to as pure honey. However, it is not always feasible to tell if the honey is pure by just looking at it. Natural honey is made only by honey bees and when these bees are fed only at organically grown flowers, the honey they produced is classified as organic.

What Is Fake Honey?
Also known as artificial, adulterated or impure, fake honey contains additives including corn syrup, glucose, molasses, sugar syrup, dextrose, invert sugar, flour or starch apart from the floral nectar.

How To Find Fake Honey?
Listed below are a few simple tips that you can carry out at the comfort of your home to determine whether the honey you are buying is genuine or fake.



Read The Label: In addition to buying well-known and reputed brands of honey, ensure that you check the label for the logo and brand name. This will guarantee that the jar you pickup is not only good quality but also genuine. The label on the jar should list only one ingredient, honey, no additives, or flavourings.
The Warm Water Test: Add a teaspoon of honey to a glass of warm water. If the honey is pure, then it will sink to the bottom of the glass as a lump or stick to the spoon when the mixture is stirred. If the honey is adulterated with any kind of syrup, it will dissolve in the water.
The Thumb Test: Put a drop of honey on your thumb. If it spreads or spills, then it is not pure. Pure honey is thick in texture and would remain intact on your thumb.
The Flame Test: Honey is inflammable and easily catches fire. Dip a dry matchstick in honey, then strike the matchbox. If the matchstick lights with ease and continues to burn, then the honey is pure. Due to the moisture present as an adulterant in fake honey, a matchstick dipped in fake honey will not light easily.
The Foam Test: Add 2-3 drops of vinegar essence to the honey and mix well. If it becomes foamy within 2-3 minutes, then the product you have purchased is not pure and contains additives.
The Tissue Paper Test: Put a drop of honey on a piece of tissue paper. If it gets absorbed and leaves the paper wet or a watermark on the paper, then it is adulterated and not pure honey.
The Heat Test: If the honey is pure, then on heating, it will caramelize. However, fake honey tends to form bubbles on heating and does not caramelize.
The Bread Test: Pure honey when spread on the bread, makes the bread hardened within a few minutes. On the other hand, the slice of bread remains soft and moisturized if there are any additives present in the honey.
The Crystallization Test: Pure honey has a natural tendency to crystallize over time because of the presence of glucose oxidase, an enzyme that removes water/moisture from honey. Fake honey does not become thick, when stored.
The Egg Yolk Test: When honey is mixed will egg yolk in a bowl and both are blended together, the yolk looks like it is cooked. However, fake honey does not produce this effect on the egg yolk.
You might sometimes be able to spot fake honey by its taste and smell, though not always. Honey being a natural product and produced from the nectar of different flowers, it does not always taste or smell the same. It is also not possible to taste honey before buying it if as the product comes in a sealed bottle or jar. Therefore, it is recommended to only pick branded or organic honey to ensure that the honey you are buying is pure and genuine.

Honey - How To Spot If It Is Fake Or Not?

The most common dietary problem that every vegetarian comes across is protein deficiency. It was a widely acknowledged fact that animal products are the best protein sources. However, it is no longer so, and vegetarians everywhere can now rejoice!

Here are the 13 best sources of protein for vegetarians:

Green peas: Green peas are legumes, which are a very good protein source. They contain 7.9 grams of protein per serving.

Quinoa: Grains usually contain very little protein, but quinoa is unique. It contains 8 grams of protein per serving, and contains all nine important amino acids that your body needs for repair and growth.

Nuts and nut butter: Nuts are a good source of proteins and healthy fats. However, eat them with caution, as they do contain 160 calories per serving. Butter made from nuts like peanut butter and almond butter is also a good source of protein.

Beans: Beans are available in a variety of colours and shapes, but all of them have one thing in common that is the high level of protein.

Chickpeas: Chickpeas are also from the legume family, so they also contain high amounts of protein; 7.3 grams of protein in only half of a serving.

Tofu and tempeh: Tempeh and tofu are both soy products and they have the highest amount of vegetarian proteins, about 15-20 grams per serving.

Edamame or soybean: Edamame or soybean is excellent for snacking. They contain 8.4 grams of protein in just half a cup.

Leafy greens: Vegetables usually do not contain much protein, but eating green vegetables will significantly add to your protein consumption. For example, you can eat one cup of cooked broccoli as that contains 8.1 grams of protein.

Hemp: Blend hemp seeds in smoothies or baked goods to get your daily dose of protein. Hemp contains 10 grams of protein per tablespoon.

Chia seeds: Chia seeds contain 4.7 grams of protein per two tablespoons, making them excellent sources of protein.

Seitan: This is a meat substitute made from wheat gluten and it contains 36 grams of protein per serving (about half a cup).

Non-dairy milk: Milk made from soy (best non-dairy protein source), almond, rice and hemp are good dairy substitutes.

Unsweetened cocoa powder: This will surprise you, but bitter cocoa contains nearly 1 gram of protein per serving (1 tablespoon)! 
All the above-mentioned food items are the best source of proteins for vegetarians. So, enjoy them with no worry.

Know Excellent Sources Of Protein For Vegetarians!

Bowel movement is extremely important for the body. An abnormal bowel movement can lead to a painful, hard and dry stool. If the constipation is accompanied by symptoms such as weight loss, abdominal pain and blood in stool, it should be immediately reported to the doctor. For patients who face chronic constipation, there are some great remedies which can be tried at home to fetch great results: 

Olive oil: Olive oil is a healthy fat that can relieve constipation. It not only stimulates the digestive system, but also ensures that the colon functions properly and constipation is prevented. 1 tablespoon of olive oil should be consumed daily in empty stomach.
Lemon: Fresh lemon is a great agent for the stomach. The citric acid found in fresh lemon acts as a great stimulant for the digestive system. Furthermore, it has the ability to flush out undigested materials and harmful toxins that have queued up along the colon walls. It should be consumed every alternate day with 1 cup of warm water.
Molasses: Blackstrap molasses acts as a great agent for relieving chronic constipation. The vitamin, magnesium and mineral content of the molasses make them a perfect solution for the digestive tract. Due to their high fat content, they should be consumed on alternate days. 1 tablespoon of molasses in water should do the trick for addressing constipation.
Coffee: Apart from the fresh aroma of the coffee, they are a great stimulant for clearing constipation. 1-2 cups of it throughout the day should keep you in a good state. Over-consumption of caffeine, on the other hand, can have an opposite effect on the body. It dehydrates the body and constipation are set into motion.
Fibre intake: Natural fruits, grains and veggies such as apricots, beans, nuts, broccoli, potatoes etc. contain a lot of fibre. The body cannot digest fibre but it acts as a sponge and squeeze water from the surrounding making the stool soft and easy to pass. As a matter of fact, even plenty of water consumption helps the body a great deal in relieving constipation.
Aloe Vera: Aloe Vera has multiple health benefits. One of this includes the soothing effect of the tummy. 2 tablespoons of Aloe Vera on a daily basis should be mixed with hot water and consumed before breakfast. Gel extracted from real Aloe Vera leaf serves a better purpose of relieving constipation that the ones that are available in the market.
Baking Soda: Baking soda contains bicarbonate, which squeezes air from the tummy and relieves an individual from the pressure and the pain. Other benefits of baking soda are its acid neutralising and stomach re-alkalizing effect on the stomach. Baking soda can be consumed with warm water on a daily basis.

Chronic Constipation - 7 Ways You Can manage It!

Read to know why choosing diet drinks over regular beverages is not good for your health. The diet contains aspartame which is reportedly 200 times sweeter than table sugar. It adversely effects the brain, increases belly fat, headache, abdominal pain etc. 

Diet Drinks vs. Regular Beverages: Which is Worse For Your Health?

Don't wait any longer, manage your Diet For Constipation online with a Lybrate doctor today

Consult for Diet For Constipation - Online and Easy!

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