Health Matters – Guide to Good Health – A for Apple

A is for Apple – an apple a day keeps the doctor away!  We all know this saying and in fact, apples are a wonderful inexpensive and nutritious fruit.  They have a rich history and although in recent years concern about chemical contamination from spraying has tainted their image organic apples are readily available and delicious. Make them part of your diet and enjoy the following benefits.

• Apples are a fantastic low GI snack – easy to carry, juicy and filling – put them in your children’s lunch box and take them to work with you. They are the perfect healthy snack.
• One Apple has only about 100 calories with 2 grams of fibre – in herbal medicine ripe uncooked apples have been recommended to treat constipation and stewed apples have been used for diarrhoea and gastroenteritis. We all need more fibre.
• Apples contain a high proportion of fructose.  This simple sugar is metabolised more slowly so helps to control blood sugar levels.
• The vitamin and mineral content of one apple is amazing; they contain Vitamins C and A and some B vitamins, potassium, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus and iron and traces of manganese, copper, selenium, and zinc.  There is a small amount of vitamin E found mostly in the seeds.

Sounds great doesn’t it like taking a small multivitamin so remember – “An Apple a day does keep the Doctor away”!

Live with joy and health.

Elizabeth Beetham