Apples Have 5 Health Benefits

Author: sahil bagde

Apples aren't just crunchy, delicious, and filling; they're also nutritious. They can help protect against serious diseases including heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and more when consumed as part of a healthy diet. Consider them to be your health's best-kept secret.

"An apple a day keeps the doctor away," you've heard a million times. It turns out that this is more true than you might imagine. Apples have been shown in studies to have significant health benefits, notably in the fight against chronic diseases, which kill millions of people each year. Here's a quick rundown of how eating more apples can help you stay healthy, as well as several delicious ways to incorporate them into your meals.

How to Choose the Best Apples for Fresh Eating, Salads, Baking, and Applesauce

Apple Nutrition

The nutrition varies slightly between the different apple varieties, but not all that much. Here's the nutrition breakdown for 1 medium apple:

95 calories

0 g protein

0 g fat

25 g carbohydrates

4 g fiber

8 mg vitamin C

98 IU vitamin A

195 mg potassium

Apples are high in water (85 percent water) and fibre (a medium apple includes 4 grammes, or approximately 16 percent of your daily value), both of which help you feel full. Apples have another virtue that makes you feel full: they take time to consume. Foods that you can consume fast tend to leave you hungry, causing you to eat more.

Apples also have a low glycemic index, which means your blood sugar levels don't spike when you eat them. So while a rosy Red Delicious or sunny Honeycrisp might taste amazingly sweet, your body is able to process the sugar in a manageable way. And because apples are both sweet and filling, snacking on an apple can be a smart way to respond to cravings. Just be sure to eat the whole fruit, peel and all. The fiber will help keep you satisfied.

Apples Have 5 Health Benefits

1. It safeguards your heart.

Apples are excellent for your ticker in a variety of ways, according to numerous research. Their high fibre content has been demonstrated to aid in the reduction of cholesterol (lowering bad LDL cholesterol and increasing good HDL cholesterol). Subjects who ate two apples a day for eight weeks had considerably lower LDL cholesterol levels than those who did not eat the fruit, according to a recent small scientific experiment. The fibre in apples, as well as polyphenols, are cited by the researchers—you gain from the complete fruit's nutrients functioning together.

People who ate entire fruits, such as apples, were also less likely to develop high blood pressure, according to a study published by Florida State University. Women who ate apples had a 22 percent lower risk of heart disease throughout a seven-year trial period, according to the Women's Health Study. Finally, because to their high fibre content and a flavonoid called quercetin, eating apples and pears was linked to a 52 percent lower risk of stroke in a Dutch research.

2. Improves the health of the brain

A collection of four significant research presented at the Alzheimer's Association's International Conference in 2017 adds to the growing body of data suggesting a plant-based diet can help prevent dementia. Swedish researchers found that persons who followed the Nordic Prudent Dietary Pattern (NPDP) had higher cognitive performance than those who ate more fatty, processed foods in one of the trials, which followed 2,000 people for six years. The NPDP recommends consuming a variety of non-root vegetables, as well as pears, peaches, and-you guessed it-apples.

Another study found that healthy older persons who followed either the Mediterranean or MIND diets, both of which emphasise eating fresh fruits and vegetables, had a 30 to 35 percent decreased risk of dementia. Their cognitive function improved as they adhered to the regimen for extended periods of time. More research is needed, according to experts, but the results appear to be encouraging.

3. It's possible that it'll assist you in losing weight.

Apples may help you full up for under 100 calories, so it's no surprise that they can help you lose weight. It turns out that the type of apple you eat makes a difference. People who ate apple slices before a meal felt more full and satisfied than those who ate applesauce, apple juice, or no apples at all, according to one study. In the same study, those who started their meal with apple slices ate 200 fewer calories on average than those who skipped the apple slices.

It's also possible that the type of apple you eat makes a difference. When compared to McIntosh, Golden Delicious, and other common kinds, one intriguing animal study published in Food Chemistry reveals that Granny Smith apples have less carbs and more non-digestible components, including feel-full fibre. The molecules also aid in the feeding of beneficial gut flora, potentially reducing the likelihood of obesity-related issues. Apple prebiotics feed helpful gut bacteria: a recent lab study examined how we digest the nutrients in entire skin-on apples and discovered an increase in Bifidobacteria, which are beneficial members of our microbiome.

4. Is a cancer fighter

Apples are near the top of the list when it comes to cancer-fighting antioxidant activity among fruits (second only to cranberries). Eating an apple a day (or more) has been related to a lower risk of colorectal, breast, and prostate cancers. Indeed, a review of multiple Italian research indicated that consuming one or more servings of apples per day reduced the risk of colorectal cancer more than any other fruit. Other human research have discovered that eating apples can help prevent lung and prostate cancer. But don't throw away the peel; it contains the majority of the cancer-fighting antioxidants.