Facts, Cautions And Health Benefits Of Apple

Apple is the fruit from an apple tree. People eat apples as a normal part of the diet. Delicious and crunchy apple fruit is one of the most popular fruits, favorite of health conscious, fitness lovers who believe in the concept “health is wealth.” This wonderful fruit is packed with rich phyto-nutrients that in the true senses indispensable for optimal health. The antioxidants in apple have much health promoting and disease prevention properties; thus truly justifying the adage, “an apple a day keeps the doctor away.”

 

Do you know your apple?

• The apple tree is a member of the rose family.
  
  
• There are more than 7,500 varieties of apples. When I lived in England I tasted many different and delicious apples that I never see in Canada.
   
• When you eat an apple you are consuming a lot of air; 25 percent of their volume is air!
   
• Apples have 5 percent protein.
   
• Apple trees can live to be 100 years old!
   
• The largest apple weighed three pounds.
   
• In ancient Greece when a man proposed to a woman he would toss her an apple and if she decided to catch it, it meant she accepted.
   
• The original proverb about eating an apple a day, which came about in 1866, was: "Eat an apple on going to bed, and you'll keep the doctor from earning his bread."
   
• It takes the energy from 50 leaves to produce one apple.

 

 

Health benefits from apple:

• Apples are filled with soluble fiber (5 grams). This fiber has been shown to reduce intestinal disorders, including diverticulitis, hemorrhoids and possibly some types of cancer. It helps control insulin levels by releasing sugar slowly into the bloodstream. It cleanses and detoxifies, which helps eliminate heavy metals, such as lead and mercury.

• Apple pectin helps reduce cholesterol levels by lowering insulin secretion.

• In two studies researchers found that eating five apples a week lowered the risk for respiratory diseases like asthma.

• According to Chinese Medicine: Apples strengthen the heart, quench thirst, lubricate the lungs, decrease mucous and increase body fluids.

• Apple cider vinegar can help prevent the formation of kidney stones.

• Studies indicate that eating apples daily can reduce skin diseases.

• According to a Brazilian study, eating an apple before a meal helped women lose 33 percent more weight than those who didn't.

• An apple has only 50-80 calories and has no fat or sodium.

• Apples are packed with vitamins C, A, and flavonoids and with smaller amounts of phosphorus, iron and calcium.

• Apples provide a source of potassium which may promote heart health.

So there you have it ... lots of good reasons why it is good for you to eat an apple a day! I like apples so much that when I started living by myself I substituted those sugar laden cereals with an apple.

 

How do I get the most from my apple?

• Eat apples with skin to get the nutrients; many of the nutrients are in the skin or just under the skin (most of the vitamin C and vitamin A are in the skin). 

• Apples have been found to be the most heavily pesticide-contaminated produce products according to The Environmental Working Group. The most common pesticides found on apples are Permethrin and DDT. Non organic apples are often waxed which is not digestible. Try to buy organic apples or if you cannot, wash them thoroughly before use preferably with a fruit and vegetable wash or peel them.

 

Apple cautions:

• As apple seeds are toxic when eaten in high doses, they should be avoided by pregnant or breastfeeding women and children.
   
• Apple juice concentrate can be full of arsenic when it is not organic according to Dr. Oz in his research. They did not find arsenic in organic apple juice.
   
   Read also
  

  

   

   Arsenic Content In Apple Juice Safe For Children And Adults

  
  
  
  
  
  
   
   
  References: 
   
  • http://www.nutrition-and-you.com/apple  
  •  http://www.mnn.com/food/healthy-eating 

  
  

  •  http://usciencecompendium.blogspot.com/2013/10/arsenic-in-apple