Fruits and Vegetables

Throughout my adolescence I have been told that fruits and vegetables are essential to a quality health. “An apple a day keeps the doctor away” or “It is important to eat your veggies to grow big and strong.” Although these foods contribute to a good health, they also differ in many ways. There are distinct requirements that allow a fruit to be a fruit, and a vegetable to be a vegetable, and the tastes and usage of these foods often bear no resemblance with each other.

Before I proceed, I feel it is necessary to clarify any common misconception about fruits and vegetables that were brought up throughout my research. The tomato, thought to be a vegetable by many, as well as myself, is actually not, it is a fruit. The pumpkin and avocado also fall into the category of a fruit ("Did you know fruit facts".) These false impressions result in the mistaken identity in countless fruits and vegetables.

A fruit is the ripened ovary of a flowering plant, often sweet and fleshy ("Fruits vs Vegetables"). On most accounts, fruits are foods that are consumed for dessert or as a snack. For example: apple pie, a banana split, or a strawberry shortcake, all of which are desserts with ingredients that require the use of fruit (MarthaStewart.com). The majority of fruits taste rather sweet due to a simple sugar called fructose. However, fructose is not the only element found in fruits. For a fruit to truly be a fruit, it must contain seeds. Some examples of fruits include pumpkins, avocados, bananas, tomatoes, and apples.

“The majority of fruits taste rather sweet due to a simple sugar called fructose." Unlike fruits, vegetables, more often than not, are eaten accompanied by a meal's main course ("Fruits vs Vegetables"). Vegetables may be found in meals such as a juicy steak beside a twice baked potato smothered in cheese and bacon, or a freshly