Apple Nutrition

Apple nutrition couldn’t be easier.  Life has become faster and more hectic and it’s easy to forget that simple choices may sometimes be the best. After all it only takes a second to reach out and snatch up an apple while passing the fruit bowl.  

As well as being a convenient food choice that you can eat practically anywhere, they are also easy to carry around and are a quick fix to slow down the hunger of a rumbling stomach. 

What’s not to like?  Apples are usually juicy yet crisp in texture and offer a variety of flavors to satisfy your taste buds.  Depending on the variety some have a distinctive flowery taste while others offer sweet to tangy flavors. 

Apple Nutrition - Weight Loss Benefits:

Eating apples help with weight loss since they are low in calories, high in soluble fiber and a good source of pectin.  High fiber content makes them a filling food which keeps you feeling fuller longer and can help prevent overeating and obesity issues. 

A fantastic read is an article by “The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition” published in their December 2007 issue where they discuss how pectin helps with weight loss.

Basically the study says that women who drank two pectin beverages a day consumed 12 percent fewer calories at lunch time and 22 percent less at dinner. 

The conclusion of the study showed that consuming pectin, which is soluble fiber, (in this case 2 pectin beverages daily) is an effective way to safely decrease the amount of food you eat daily.  Eating less food equals less calorie intake equals weight loss.

Other Benefits of Apple Nutrition:

• They help keep teeth clean, what a great solution when you don’t have your tooth brush handy
• Contain antioxidants which help detoxify the body  and help prevent cancer
• Low in calories
• High in soluble fiber
• Good source of pectin 

Benefits of Soluble Fiber:

A diet abundant in soluble fiber can help with the following:

• Lower cholesterol
• Regulate blood sugar and help those with diabetes
• Maintain healthy heart
• Avoid constipation
• Prevents hemorrhoids

Benefits of Pectin:

Pectin is the same stuff used to thicken homemade jams.  It is also used to thicken food fillings, certain medicines and drinks.  The great plus is that pectin is a source of dietary fiber and as listed above the benefits are many.

You can buy pectin commercially in a powder form in most grocery stores.  Whether you choose to eat foods containing pectin or prefer mixing the store bought powder in a beverage, adding any source of pectin to your diet is a good thing.

Some foods that contain pectin are apples, oranges, carrots, beets, cabbage, okra, but I’m sure there are more.

Pectin helps slow down the absorption of food after eating a meal.  So how does that help?

It’s because of that fact that pectin is helpful for people with diabetes as it regulates blood sugars.

It is also known to remove unwanted toxins from the body.

Apple Nutrition – Drawbacks

The skin of the apple may contain pesticides if not organic
Besides pectin and fiber benefits, apples are relatively low in other nutrients

Today it is important to wash all fruits and vegetables thoroughly and of course this includes the all mighty apple. 

Many experts also feel it necessary to peel an apple before eating because the skin can absorb many pesticides used in farming. 

Fortunately now there are more organic fruits and vegetables available in most supermarkets thanks to the heavy consumer demand in recent years.

That old saying might not have been far off, “an apple a day keeps the doctor away”, certainly can’t hurt.

Wishing you health and happiness

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