An Apple a Day!!!

An apple a day keeps the doctor away! Is a popular saying derived from an old Welsh proverb from the 1800’s “Eat an apple on going to bed, and you’ll stop the doctor from earning his bread” and, whilst an apple can’t replace your prescribed medication, modern science agrees!

We all probably know the benefits of eating fruit, but just in case…

• They are a fabulous source of vitamins and minerals including folate (vitamin B9), vitamin C and potassium.
• They are a brilliant source of dietary fiber, which not only helps keep you full and satisfied but also has tremendous health benefits.
• It’s worth noting that mindlessly eating fruit as a snack is not always the best idea. But fruit does contain natural sugars that will affect your teeth and they can also impact your weight when you mindlessly eat them!! Your Calorie and Nutritional Guide to Fruit It might be worth looking into making your fruits into a tasty dessert? Apple crumble for example – Use 1/2 the crumble mix and more stewed apple (try sweetener when stewing) for a delicious home-made favourite.
• And lastly don’t forget if you chose a piece of fruit as a snack it is a much better choice than the high fat and sugar snack that you might normally chose.
• Also consider that your 5 a day is often interpreted in your favour! Generally as a guide, 2 of your 5 a day should be fruit and 3 should be vegetables Your Calorie and Nutritional Guide to Vegetables…. But what exactly is a portion??? Generally 80g of any fresh, frozen or tinned in water/juice fruit or vegetables, or 30g of dried fruit, 150ml 100% fruit/veg juice (but only 1-a-day counts towards your 5-a-day) and lastly around 50g salad leaves (approximately a small cereal bowl full)

Sometimes though we can really get stuck in a rut with what have. why not try experimenting with tinned/frozen fruit, it’s processed at it’s best and retains it’s vitamins.

So if all you have in your fruit bowl are apples instead of just reaching for one and eating it and not really enjoying it, but giving yourself a pat on the back for having one of your 5-a-day, be more inventive with what you can do with an apple.

So why is this important?

I’ll tell you why – when we are bored with our food that is when we have a greater potential to fall off the wagon of making healthier choices.

Most people tend to eat their fruit as a healthier snack alternative but why not think about adding it to your meals

Why not try:-

• Stewed apple with your pork chops or as a topping for pancakes, or with cinnamon added to your porridge for naturally added sweetness.
• Chopped apple on your salad or added to your coleslaw
• Add to soup with some ginger or even to your casseroles
• Apple pie/turnovers made with wraps or thins or even in those stand up mini taco shells

There is so much we could be doing with our apples so be more adventurous!

I know an apple is an easy choice that takes no effort, is really portable and not messy but if you really want to be successful you have to consider that putting in some extra time and effort can make a big difference to your enjoyment and satisfaction.

There are over 7,500 known varieties of of apples worldwide but only a small fraction are actually grown commercially (25-40) and in the UK only 12 are commonly sold in shops.

All these many varieties offer different flavours, textures and uses from the very sweet dessert apple to the tart cooking apple 🍎🍏 So is it time to mix it up and try a different variety? Tesco/Ocado/Waitrose/Morrisons are selling a pink fleshed apple with a slightly different flavour called Kissabel enjoying your fruit will help you to be in control, which in turn can give you even greater success.

If you never taste a bad apple, you would not appreciate a good apple. You have to experience life to understand

leon brown