Everyone knows the health benefits of eating apples daily – or at least the benefit of eating “an apple a day.” You know, if you do, doctors would have less business, according to the old adage!
It would no doubt help. The common, ordinary apple fits every criterion of this website: very simple, very healthy, and relatively plentiful and inexpensive, at least in the more poleward parts of the world.
I have a lot of experience with apples! For years, following stomach surgery, I ate probably five pounds of apples every week. I loved them, they tasted good, and they were great for a recuperating stomach!
How Budget-Friendly Are Apples?
The electronic versions (as in Apple Computers) can be pricey…but the kind you eat – not very! You have to use a little discretion in how and where you buy your apples, they’re not always the cheapest in the smaller local grocery store. Costco and the larger more discount-type supermarkets will likely have the least expensive apples.
Apples are – according to people who know – the fourth least-expensive fruit in America.
Just How Healthy Is an Apple?
It’s hard to quantify exactly how much good I got from eating so many apples; my post-operative experience with apples was primarily several decades ago – and I feel great today! I realize that’s “anecdotal” – merely my observed experience and how it seems to me, not the result of a study. But I personally do think apples have played a part in my long-term health (along with God’s goodness, in general).
What is it about apples that makes them so incredibly healthy?
- Polyphenols. Polyphenols are an important antioxidant found in apples that protect your cells from free radicals. “Free radicals” are harmful molecules that contribute to diseases like cancer and heart disease. Antioxidants protect your cells from free radicals.
- Fiber. Apples are rich in insoluble fiber, which improves your bowel health and helps prevent constipation and bowel conditions like hemorrhoids and diverticulitis.
Heart disease, cancer, and diabetes are numbers one, two, and eight respectively on the list of top killer diseases in America. Apples – and here there are studies – seem to have some effect in preventing death from almost all kinds of diseases. One review of 16 studies involving apples showed that eating approximately two apples per day reduced the risk of dying from cardiovascular disease, ischemic heart disease, severe abdominal aortic calcification (whatever that is!), and stroke, reduced cholesterol, and reduced blood pressure.
It’s important to eat apples with the skin because the skin is the part of the apple that contains the greatest amount of polyphenols and fiber.
A study has shown that risk of stroke decreased by 9% for every 1/5 cup of apple slices consumed per day.
Some studies have shown that eating apples may reduce the risk of dementia and improve memory, as well.
Apples play a potentially large role in lowering your risk of developing diabetes, according to a 2019 meta-analysis published in Current Developments in Nutrition. It goes so far as to say that eating apples and/or pears can lower your risk of developing Type 2 Diabetes by 18%.
Apples can be helpful in weight loss. They help fill you faster and have relatively low-calorie content for the amount of satiety they provide.
Don’t Like Apples?
Don’t be too quick to say that; how many varieties have you tried? There are more varieties of apples than you can shake an apple tree branch at. There is an apple to satisfy hopefully everyone’s taste buds! There are tart ones and sweet ones and everything in between. If you’ve only had the odd Delicious apple, you have no idea! I like apples; I don’t happen to like the Delicious variety at all!
So armed with the knowledge that apples are incredibly healthy, go exploring. Even in your local supermarket, there are likely to be Delicious, Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, Spartan, Gala, Ambrosia, McIntosh, Pink Lady, and others. A little looking around at farm markets and fruit stands will probably turn up even more because there certainly are a lot more!
The Best Way to Eat Apples
The standard and traditional way is of course just to grab a whole apple and eat it down to the core, and then throw away the core. There’s certainly nothing wrong with that, as long as the apple is well-washed to eliminate toxins and sprays. That is one consideration you have to pay attention to, because apples are among the most sprayed fruits.
I’m of the opinion – and you are free to disagree with me – that if you don’t have the opportunity to wash an apple, then rub it with a cloth or paper product, and eat it anyway. You will get more potential benefit from the apple by eating it than the negative effect of any spray residue! This is PURELY my opinion; if you get cancer, don’t take me to court because I said it was OK to eat the occasional apple without washing!
I would only do this occasionally; best of course to wash your apples well before eating.
Organic apples are great, if you have access to them, but they are likely to be considerably more expensive.
Don’t peel! Sure if you peel, you get rid of surface spray, but much of the health benefit of the apple is in the peel and the flesh directly beneath the peel.
Cooked Apples and Applesauce
For all the people who prefer to get their daily quota of apples in the form of applesauce, all is not lost! Raw apples provide fiber and Vitamin C, but when apples are cooked, they release more pectin, which is an excellent form of fiber in its own right.
A potential problem with cooked apple products is not with the cooked apple itself, but with added sugar. Eat plain applesauce, or sweeten it with stevia to avoid adding sugar, so you avoid all the attendant negative health implications of sugar.
It is not at all difficult to find plain unsweetened versions of applesauce in most American and Canadian grocery stores, in any case.
Summing Up…
In conclusion, apples are certainly one of the most healthy, inexpensive, and simple foods you can eat. As long as you deal with the “added sprays” issue by cleaning your apples well (most of the time), they may truly function as a cheap doctor in your quest for overall health. Not saying you should eat an apple instead of going to the doctor, if you need to go to the doctor, of course… But your doctor visits might be able to be reduced long-term if you eat apples regularly.
If you have any thoughts or questions on the content of this post, please feel free to let us know in the comments section below.
