Whether you are calorie conscious, looking for more ways to improve your diet for health, or just plain love a sweet snack, include fresh pears on all counts. A healthy diet is one that includes at least 5 servings of fresh fruits and vegetables daily!

A Sweet Alternative No Need to Peel Pears and Fiber

Pears and Potassium Pears and Vitamin C A Healthy Choice

                                 A Sweet Alternative

A medium sized pear, weighing about 166 grams, contains only 100 calories. Levulose, the sweetest of known natural sugars, is found to a greater extent in fresh pears than any other fruit!
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                                    Wash and Eat

There's no need to peel a pear... their tender, edible skin is an additional source of fiber. A medium sized pear provides 4 grams of fiber, or 16% of the recommended daily value. Always wash all fresh fruits and vegetables before serving.
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                  More About Pears & NutritionFiber:

 Fresh pears offer dietary fiber, much of it in the form of Pectin. A pear weighing 166 grams provides 2.32 grams of crude fiber, and 4 grams of dietary fiber, of which 41% is pectin. Fiber contains no calories, and is a necessary element of a healthy diet, helping to sustain blood sugar levels and promoting regularity. High fiber diets may also help reduce the risk of colon cancer and can help reduce serum cholesterol. Pears are a good source of natural fiber.
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                                   Potassium:

 Fresh pears offer potassium; 210 mg in a medium size pear. Although it is an element lost easily through dehydration or perspiration brought on by active lifestyles or strenuous exercise, Potassium is necessary for maintaining heartbeat, muscle contraction, nerve transmission, as well as carbohydrate and protein metabolism. Replenish potassium by eating fresh vegetables, fruits or legumes containing high potassium content. Pears are an excellent choice.
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                                    Vitamin C:

 Fresh pears contain ascorbic acid, or Vitamin C. One medium size pear provides 7 mg, or 11% of the RDA for Vitamin C. As one of the antioxidant vitamins, Vitamin C is essential for normal metabolism and tissue repair, helping prevent free radical damage that are destructive by-products of the body's metabolic process. Vitamin C promotes healing of cuts and bruises and helps guard against a number of infectious diseases. Fresh pears are a good source for Vitamin C.
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                             A Healthy Choice:  

Fresh pears also have no cholesterol, sodium, or saturated fat. They offer a natural, quick source of energy, due largely to high amounts of two monosacharides: fructose and glucose. A pear is a nutrient dense food, providing more nutrients per calorie, than calories per nutrient. Carbohydrates make up 98% of the energy provided by a pear, and carbohydrates are helpful in weight reduction diets since they contain half as many calories as fat.
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Fresh Pears Have No Sodium
A diet high in sodium is a risk factor for osteoporosis, can upset the body's fluid balance, and can contribute to hypertension (high blood pressure). Children should be aware of this early in life when nutritional habits are being formed. Pears contain no sodium.

Fresh Pears Have No Saturated Fat
Saturated fat contributes to obesity and cholesterol in the body, which in turn contributes to coronary disease, and some forms of cancer. There is no saturated fat in fresh pears.