Do you enjoy eating a delicious apple from time to time?
If so, Autumn is a great time to enjoy a variety of fresh locally grown apples.
I’m taking advantage of the apple season to tell you more about it.
Here is one of my radio interviews on this subject: The Amazing Apple
or the written version!
1. Are apples a superfood?
Although apples have many benefits the answer is no.
No one food is a superfood. Rather, it’s the sum of everything we eat over time that makes us have a good nutrition and apples are part of that, because they are a delicious food with excellent health properties.
2. What are the virtues of apples?
Several, here are ten:
• Wide variety: red, yellow, green, juicy, crunchy, tart, or sweet
• Enjoyed by many people
• Easy to transport : lunch box
• Relatively inexpensive
• Available year-round
• Helps regulate blood sugar levels
• Excellent for heart health (lowers cholesterol)
• Promotes good brain health
• Helps clean our teeth
• Aids digestion
3. How can apples clean teeth and improve our dental health?
Biting into an apple stimulates our saliva production, which helps clean our teeth. Your dentist would tell you that this is no substitute for brushing your teeth, it’s true, but it can help, especially between meals.
4. How do apples help lower blood sugar levels in people with diabetes?
Apples contain fiber, especially their skins. This fiber is called pectin.
Pectin is a type of soluble fiber known to slow down digestion of food through the intestines, which prolongs the absorption of sugars, and nutrients such as carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals.
This prevents sudden spikes in blood sugar. That’s why eating an apple with its fiber-rich peel is highly effective for helping control diabetes.
5. What is the apple juice vs. apple test?
When eating a whole apple, you bite it, chew it, and then swallow it. The process of eating an apple and its skin takes longer than simply drinking a few sips of apple juice.
The extra fiber in the apple makes us feel fuller and more satisfied compared with drinking it’s juice. As a result, we feel less hungry, and for people with diabetes, this has a secondary effect of helping them better regulate their blood sugar levels.
6. When apples are cooked, do they retain their properties?
Are you in the mood for some delicious apple sauce or apple pie every now and then? Why not? When apples are cooked, the fibers soften, making them a little easier to digest. This is particularly beneficial for people with health issues such as digestive problems.
7. Since there are other apple-based products, such as alcoholic apple cider made from fermented apples, can we say that there are still some benefits left after this process?
First, since this type of cider is alcoholic, I recommend that people drink it in moderation and only when necessary. Studies show that to preserve our brain health, we should try to avoid alcohol when possible and instead choose to drink alcoholic drinks with moderation during special occasions.
There is a big difference between apples and alcoholic apple cider! Apples are much more nutritious. So be sure to accompany your glass of alcoholic cider with food to better tolerate it’s alcohol content.
8. There are several types of apples grown in our region. Is one kind better than another?
No, there are over 7,500 varieties of apples known to grow on our beautiful planet, many of which come from local sources. What’s more, new varieties of apples appear on the market all the time.
Since variety is the spice of life, I encourage you to take advantage of the different apples available at your grocery store.
By varying the apples we buy, we can taste different types of apples in various colors and thus maximize the presence of substances such as antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals that make our nutrition more diversified giving us better health chances.
9. An apple a day keeps the doctor away. But can you eat too many apples? How does that affect your health?
Yes, you can eat too many apples. The average adult should eat a maximum of 2 to 3 fruits (e.g., apples) per day. The exception to that would be in the case that you are preparing for a long sporting event where you will be expending a lot of energy.
Because eating too many good apples is like eating too much of anything else that your body doesn’t need, the body tends to stock the excess food. When possible, it’s better to eat until you no longer feel hungry.
I thank you very much and
I wish you to savour delicious apples of your choice!
