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There’s no easier method to add a nutritional boost to your day than by eating an apple. You likely first tasted its delectable taste as a baby, when applesauce introduced you to genuine food. Grab a favorite, from Granny Smiths to McIntoshes, or Red Delicious, and savor their delicious health benefits.
Apples are a tasty and nutritious fruit that is grown all around the world. They’re high in dietary fiber, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. They’re low in fat and cholesterol and contain little salt. In other words, consuming apples is a deliciously smart part of a healthy lifestyle.
Apple nutrition and health
Apples keep you regular
Apples are fantastic foods when it comes to gastrointestinal health and regularity. Apples may assist with keeping that balance between frequent and infrequent restroom visits.
According to a British researcher, Dr. D.P. Burkitt, avoiding constipation is one of the most straightforward methods to prevent all sorts of illnesses. He refers to the diseases caused by chronic constipation as “pressure diseases.” Stretching to pass small, hard feces can cause appendicitis, diverticular diseases, hemorrhoids, hiatal hernias, and even varicose veins.
The skin of an apple contains 4 to 5 grams of fiber, which is the most significant element in keeping your bowels functioning smoothly. Replacing that afternoon snack of potato chips or cookies with a crisp, delicious apple might be as simple as keeping them handy around the house or office. Consider how many calories you’ll save by making the switch to an apple. NOTE: A single apple (80 calories) has fewer calories than a plate of chips (150 calories), or 2-3 cookies (200 calories)
That’s not the whole story. Apples are also helpful for diarrhea because of a component called pectin. This carbohydrate has a firming effect on your intestines, which helps you return to normal.
Applesauce is the ideal apple food for diarrhea since it doesn’t include the thick-fiber skin. However, be wary of excessive sugar. Some brands of applesauce add a lot of sweeteners to what would otherwise be a healthy meal, and too much refined sugar may exacerbate your symptoms.
Apples have numerous antioxidants
You probably know that antioxidants can help you avoid many age-related ailments. In fact, so many individuals are taking antioxidant supplements that it has become a multi-billion-dollar business. Whole foods, on the other hand, appear to be more effective than pills in combating disease.
When researchers compared a 1,500-milligram vitamin C tablet to a small apple, the results were stunning: The antioxidant qualities were comparable. This means that a freshly sliced apple contains over 15 times the antioxidant capacity of the recommended daily dose of vitamin C. And that’s just for starters.
In addition, the researchers discovered that an ordinary apple was able to halt the growth of colon and liver cancer cells in test tubes. Unpeeled apples were especially powerful.
So, why you would spend money on tasteless supplements rather than obtaining comparable antioxidant power from a delicious, crunchy fruit?
Apples reduce risk of heart disease.
Sometimes it’s difficult to remember which foods are beneficial to each part of your body. The next time you grab an apple, take a good look at it. It resembles a heart in form – and that should assist you in remembering apples are good for the heart.
Apples contain many compounds that have been linked to heart health, one of which is quercetin, an antioxidant found in nature. It’s the magnesium and potassium in apples that help your blood pressure stay normal and keep your heart beating steadily, as well as the flavonoid quercetin, a naturally occurring antioxidant.
In reality, eating foods high in flavonoids like apples has been proved to reduce your risk of heart disease in studies. A study of Japanese women who ate foods rich in quercetin revealed evidence of this. They were less likely to get coronary heart disease than other women and had lower levels of total and LDL (“bad”) cholesterol.
Apples help avoid strokes
Apples are beneficial for stroke prevention, too. Researchers aren’t sure which component in this multi-talented fruit to credit, but the link is obvious – those who eat apples regularly are less likely to have strokes than those who don’t.
Protects your joints with apples.
In many parts of the world, fruits and vegetables form a significant portion of the diet, and arthritis rates are low in many of these countries. Compare that to modernized nations, where fruits and vegetables have been supplanted with fast, processed food, and you’ll discover up to 70 percent of the people suffer from some sort of arthritis.
Is this another example of food-related serendipity? Maybe, according to nutrition scientists. They suggest that boron, a minor mineral found in many plants, including apples, is one reason for this shift.
For the average person, your body will get about 1 to 2 mg of boron each day, with most of it coming from non-citrus fruits, leafy vegetables, and nuts. It is thought that you need anywhere from 3 to 10 mg of boric acid a day in order to raise your arthritis risk. You’d have to consume more than nine apples each day to achieve this level of boron intake.
This is quite a lot for most individuals, but don’t give up hope. Simply eating an apple with a few teaspoons of peanut butter and a handful of raisins provide not only a delectable afternoon snack, but also meet your boron-saving quota.
Breathe better
Every day, your lungs are assaulted by cigarette smoke, air pollution, pollen, and other airborne pollutants.
Take into account respiratory ailments such as asthma, emphysema, or another lung diseases. In combination with medically prescribed therapies, a nice way to help get breath of fresh air could be – eat an apple.
Men who ate five or more apples per week were able to fill their lungs with additional air than those who didn’t eat apples, according to a five-year research of over 2,500 men from Wales. Quercetin, an antioxidant found in apples, is said to provide some unique protection. Unfortunately, consuming apples can’t cure a disease you already have, but it may just offer you added resistance against further damage and provide that extra oxygenation boost.
Buying and storing apples
Choose apples that are firm, unbruised, and of vibrant color. Once purchased and brought home, remove the apples from their plastic wrapping and refrigerate them in a paper bag or loose in a produce drawer. Since they will absorb odors, keep them away from strong-smelling foods like garlic and onions.
An apple a day…
Apples are a delicious and nutritious snack food that have been shown to be beneficial for heart health, joint health, lung health, brain function, and more.
Want to be more healthy? Eating an apple is the way go!