MY PAINTINGS OF FRUITS - 5
WITH THEIR HEALTH BENEFITS
DR. C. D. JAYAWEERA BANDARA
I have given the scientific name of each. Some of the claimed Health Benefits as described may not be strictly scientifically verified and are debatable. Some claims are highly generalised and open to question. As with my previous posts, readers can make up their own minds, and I shall be keen for your feedback.
31 STRAWBERRY 32 BLACKBERRY
Scientific name Fragria ananassa Scientific name Rubus subg. Rubus
33 BLUEBERRY 34 RASPBERRY
Scientific name
Vaccinium sect. Cyanococcus Scientific
name Rubus idaeus
35 LYCHEE 36 GOOSEBERRY
Scientific name
Litchi chinensis Scientific name
Phyllanthus acidus
37 ORANGES 38 DATES
Scientific name Citrus sinensis Scientific
name Phoenix dactylifera
ANTIOXIDANTS ARE PRESENT IN ALL 8 FRUITS
ANTIOXIDANT FRUIT
BENEFITS
Epidemiological
prospective studies show that higher intakes of antioxidants-rich fruits are
associated with a lower risk of chronic oxidative stress-related diseases like
cardiovascular diseases, carcinoma and death from all causes.
Benefits of Antioxidants
1. Reduce oxidative stress
2. Support disease prevention
3.
Support Eye Health
4. Aid
in brain function
5.
Contribute Mental health improvements
6.
Reduce inflammation
7.
Support healthy ageing processes
31 STRAWBERRY
Scientific name Fragria
ananassa
In addition to the above benefits of Antioxidants
9. May regulate Blood sugar. May be helpful for those with Type 2 Diabetes
10. Maybe Cancer-protective
11. May help weight management
12. Contain Flavinoids which may slow age-related memory loss
13. Alleviate pain from Osteoarthritis.
32 BLACKBERRY
Scientific name: Rubus subg. Rubus
In addition to the above benefits of Antioxidants
9. Help prevent Cancer
10. May support oral and gut health
11. May have antidiabetic effects
12. May help treat Cold sores
Scientific name: Vaccinium sect. Cyanococcus
In addition to the above benefits of Antioxidants
9. May have a body weight-maintaining ability
10. May have a Blood sugar-lowering effect
11. May have a cholesterol-lowering effect
12. May have BP maintaining activity
34 RASPBERRY
Scientific name: Rubus idaeus
In addition to the above benefits of Antioxidants
9. Fight against heart and circulatory disease. Lowers BP
10. May prevent strokes
11. Healthy bone and skin
12. Help regulate Blood sugar
13. Help weight management
14. May play a role in Alzheimer’s disease
35 LYCHEE
Scientific name: Litchi chinensis
In addition to the above benefits of Antioxidants
9. May help prevent heart disease
10. May help prevent Diabetes
11. May help Liver health
Scientific name: Phyllanthus acidus
In addition to the above benefits of Antioxidants
9. Reduce the risk of Heart disease. Lowers Cholesterol. Lowers BP
10. May have anticancer effects
11. Reduce the risk of Alzheimer's and Strokes
12. Protect against obesity
37 ORANGE
Scientific name: Citrus sinensis
In addition to the above benefits of Antioxidants
10. Helps fight Cancer-causing free radicals
11. Lowers BP, Lower Cholesterol
12. Lowers Blood sugar
13. Slows the advance of Age-related Macular Degeneration AMD, a leading cause of
Vision loss
Scientific name: Phoenix dactylifera
In addition to the above benefits of Antioxidants
9. Some claim promote bone health and aid in blood sugar
(This has not been studied sufficiently)
Mahendra
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for taking great care, to publish my paintings.
Much appreciated.
I value your enthusiasm in keeping our Blog alive.
Chira
Chira, you have again shown your ability to capture the essence of the fruit with your paintings. To make them even more meaningful, you have researched on the antioxidant benefits of these fruits. Those of you who live in Sri Lanka are so fortunate to have such a wide range of fruits. I hope all of you are making full use of them.
ReplyDeleteChira has mentioned 5 fruits with the name ending with --berry. I wondered what exactly is a berry?
ReplyDeleteThe Encycl Brittanica states "Berry, in botany, a simple fleshy fruit that usually has many seeds, such as the banana, grape, melon, orange, and tomato. As a simple fruit, a berry is derived from a single ovary of an individual flower. The middle and inner layers of the fruit wall often are not distinct from each other. Together with drupes (e.g., cherry, mango, and olive) and pomes (e.g., apple, pear, and loquat), berries are one of the main types of fleshy fruits.
Any small fleshy fruit is popularly called a berry, especially if it is edible. Raspberries, blackberries, and strawberries, for example, are not true berries but are aggregate fruits—fruits that consist of a number of smaller fruits. Cranberries and blueberries, however, are true botanical berries.
I can't think of an equivalent suffix in sinhalese for type of fruits. I suppose some may say "gediya" (kos gediya) or "palathuru" but palathuru is a group name. You don't say "Ambapalathuru" or lovipalathuru! Any sinhala linguistic experts?
Mahendra
DeleteThank you very much for appreciating my paintings. I value it greatly.
Thank you for educating us on the 'berry'.
Chira
Like Berry is used to identify the particular fruit as being a berry, I suppose in Sinhalese, an exmaple would be "Haal" and ther will be Suduhaal, rathuhaal but I may be wrong as then the words are separted- sudu haal, rathu haal, rata haal. I would like your views please!
ReplyDeleteThank you very much Chira for another excellent contribution. Today I received an excellent article from Baba Mail regarding the multiple health benefits of pomegranate which I will forward to you.
ReplyDeleteLama
DeleteThank you very much for your comment appreciating my paintings. I value it greatly.
Looking forward to receiving health benefits of pomegranate from Baba Mail.
Chira
These are so lifelike Chirasri - Iam amazed at the patience you must have, not only to do the paintings , but also to do all the research into their benefits to share with us - Thank you
ReplyDeleteRohini
DeleteLovely to hear from you.
Thank you very much for appreciating my paintings.
I have never gone for any painting classes but simply look at a photo from the Internet on my laptop and paint. I enjoy painting and get a lof of satisfaction when the final result resemble the original.
I value your comment very much. This is the 5th instalment of my paintings of fruits with their health benefits.You could go backwards and see the others if you are interested.
I enjoyed listening to Mahendra's song where you had provided the lyrics. Thank you.
Chira
Hi Chira
DeleteAs usual the paintings were beautiful and pleased to see that U R maintaining the artistic skills.The spiky edges of the Lycees demonstrated a fine touch.
Your post contained very useful data As you are keen on feed back,I would like to make the following comment. in the section
"Benefits of antioxidant": no 7, I prefer, prevent rather than support the ageing process. Keep on painting.
Bora
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for your lovely comment which I appreciate greatly.
It was very difficult to paint the Lychee skin, for it to look natural. I am glad you noticed it.
I must admit that I had inadvertently missed the word 'healthy' in benefits of antioxidants No. 7. It should have been 'support healthy aging processes'.
I will ask Mahendra to add 'healthy'.
Thanks for making me realise the omission.
Chira
Boraand Chira, it has always been the dream of humankind to prolong life , if possible indefinitely. There is more and more recognition of the part played by inflammatory processes in ageing. It is generally accepted that eternal life is not possible, for any species. As we all know, the life span of species has a wide variability, but never unlimited
ReplyDeleteHaving said all that, there is enough evidence to show that the ageing process can be influenced. The first step is not to prolong life as a whole but to prolong the duration of a healthy life (compression of morbidity). The ideal is that we live happily with little or no disability and at an advanced age, we just drop dead! It now appears that in the process of reducing the effects of ageing, there could be some exention of the life span; but it will always be limited. Eternal life on Earth is a myth. What we must all aim for is the maintenence of health right through to old age with such measures as avoiding toxins (eg. tobacco smoking), regular exercise, mental stimulation and remaining "involved" in the comminity, social interaction and avoidance of isolation and maintining a positive attitude. These should begin when you are young;don't wait till you are old, although it is never too late to gain benefits.These will be modified by indiviual genetic factors and social and enviromental factors.
Antioxidants will help by reducing inflammatory damage that occurs in the ageing process.
Hi Mahen
DeleteAgree with your comments.Quality of life is the important thing.As you stated, regular exercise, not smoking etc are within are control but there are many others which are out of our control.Healthy genes are most important.
Mahendra
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you that we all like to live a healthy life as we grow old. We should be healthy not only physically but also mentally, otherwise it is not worth living. We should be active not only physically but also mentally. Let us hope that we will be blessed with a happy life with a good physical and mental ability till we exit from this world. Let us all hope for the best !
Chira
Thank you Chira once again for the informative health benefits of these fruits alongside your excellent paintings. For those of us here many fruits in this series are alien as we do not have these plants here such as some of the 'berries'. Thus our knowledge on these is limited to the flavor and colour not to the natural fruit or the plant. Mahendra your explanation on the term 'berry' is fascinating. I never gave much thought to this but then such information on naming makes it more interesting like the origin of the term dragon fruit. Reg. the term 'haal', I viewed the terms 'Sudu'/ 'Ratu' as a description of whether the grain is husked or not but not referring to any special variety. 'Ratu haal' is always raw ('kakulu') while 'sudu haal' can be either 'kakulu' or 'thambapu' (par boiled) rice. I may be wrong in this assumption and stand to be corrected. Thank you both. Manel
ReplyDeleteManel
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for your comment. I value greatly, your appreciation of my paintings and the informative health benefits.
Your comment helps our Blog to go forwards, to keep it alive.
Chira
Hello Chira
ReplyDeleteOnce again you have drawn some delectable fruits so very beautifully. Painting is a wonderful gift which you have in great abundance. Getting the proportions and the colours right is so difficult. Thank you for sharing on this blog.
Nihal
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your lovely comment. I appreciate greatly.
I have no difficulty in getting the proportions and the colours right but getting the spiky skin of Durian, Lychee and Jack fruit are extremely difficult. I am happy that I was able to achieve it to a certain extent.
Let me thank you for helping Mahendra, in keeping our Blog alive.
Chira
While is good to concentrate on the topic of the post, I think it is useful to enlarge the discussion (as I have done with this post and before), to related or things arising from the post. I think it adds value and makes it more interesting. What do colleagues think as I get the impression reading the comments that there may be other views?
ReplyDeleteThe great value of this forum is its openness. I have enjoyed the lateral thinking of my friends on this blog sometimes unrelated to the topic of discussion. This invites views and arguments for and against anything and everything. I have got into trouble for this in the past but that was long time ago and best forgotten. Keep the forum alive with your thoughts whenever you wish.
DeleteChira, thanks for sharing your beautiful , lifelike depictions of fruits and berries, and taking the time and trouble to research their benefits. Blueberries, strawberries and raspberries are easily found, in the summertime, around where I live. Some people love to go berry picking. It is fun when the weather is inviting. I am quite fond of blueberries and raspberries, because they can be easily frozen. When you are ready to eat them all you have to do is rinse them under cold running water before adding them to your cereal or ice cream. (Maybe that negates all the beneficial effects! Oh well...) Also, I don't like peeling and cutting fruits, remember? š¤£
ReplyDeleteMahen, I found another definition of "berry." (University of Google!): "Any small fleshy fruit is popularly called a berry, especially if it is edible. Raspberries, blackberries and strawberries, for example, are not true berries but are aggregate fruits - fruits that consist of a number of smaller fruits. Cranberries and blueberries, however, are true botanical berries."
ReplyDeleteAlso, you commented that "The first step is not to prolong life as a whole but to prolong the duration of a healthy life (compression of morbidity). The ideal is that we live happily with little or no disability and at an advanced age, we just drop dead!" I completely agree, and that is my goal! If we are blessed and destined to live long, we need to enjoy the life we have in the best way possible. One of the enjoyable things is being able to have 'conversations' and discussions such as this on the blog!
Srianee
DeleteThank you very much for your comment which I appreciate greatly.
I love strawberries and I used to enjoy going strawberry picking when I was in UK.
Since you can't be bothered cutting and peeling I think the ideal fruits for you are the berries !
I think we all should help Mahendra to keep the Blog alive by getting articles published and posting comments when articles are published. After all this is the forum where we interact with batchmates and also know when one by one we are leaving this world as life is not eternal. Let us make hay while sun shines. Let us be happy and healthy not only physically but also mentally.
Chira
Hi Chira
ReplyDeleteOnce again you have given us a treat with your painting of fruit , as well as educating us on their benefits.
I remember going strawberry picking in summer when we lived in UK
You could eat as much as you want without paying ! But I was reluctant to eat any unwashed fruit.
I am sure we all agree with Speedy in that it's not the length of life that is important, but the quality.. and he has gone on to mention ways of doing so. You are a shining example to us all .. taking up a new hobby, after retirement and persevering so that you are improving your skills in leaps and bounds. We can't all be artists , but is so important to find a way of keeping ourselves occupied. I feel that the days I've spent doing something useful or helpful to another whether it be reaching out to contact people who are living alone ( now that visits are more difficult)or simply helping my grand kids with their home work , to be satisfying. I am so glad that I am a book worm .. you never feel alone while reading .
Since we are all used to exercising our brains, I think we should continue to do so . ..doing word puzzles puzzles,cross word puzzles, sudoku are fun ways if spending time.
Suri
Suri
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for your lovely comment which I value greatly.
Where my painting is concerned it is not only perseverance but also self determination which takes me forward. You would be surprised that I have discarded some of my paintings when I am not happy with the result, that I have painted again.I don't give up easily.
You should be happy that you have a set of grandkids where you supervise their homework etc.which activates your mind.
Chira