You may have heard of the saying which goes "An Apple a Day Keeps the Doctor Away". Allow me to present a brief scientific review of the benefits of this scrumptious delicacy: La Manzanas!
Apple: Malus domestica
Apples are among the most abundant and most popular fruits on the planet. They were once primarily cultivated in the fertile soils of Asia and Europe but was propagated around the world by colonization. Their seeds made its way to international soil and since then grown into roughly 7,500 variations of species all over the world (OrganicFacts, 2018).
In the medical field, apples are regarded as the façade of health. In education, it can be noted how teachers are usually given apples to represent gratitude. What then makes this fruit so beneficial to the body. I will present to you 3 of the health benefits that I find to be really fascinating:
Bowel Movement
Apples are excellent sources of dietary fiber. For the information of everyone, fiber acts as a broom to cleanse the bowel of the toxic wastes we take in. Have you ever noticed how easier it is to excrete your wastes after eating fruits? Eating an apple is an excellent way to help prevent constipation and diarrhea.
Imagine your colon as a tunnel with its walls constantly moving in a wave like motion. If a lot of people are the tunnel without an object to push it, the movement will be sluggish. Because the skins of apples are not easily digested, these add to the bulk of your waste and makes it easier to push the contents of your colon outside your system. These are wastes after all and need to be eliminated immediately.
So the next time, you are having difficulty in eliminating you bowel, try eating an apple.
Weight Control
Eating complex carbohydrates is always better than simpler chains of sugars. Most Filipinos are avid rice eaters with white rice being a simple sugar. We consume a lot of rice in one sitting only to find ourselves hungry once more and the next meals still hours away. This is what simple carbs do to our body.
Eating food choices high in complex carbohydrates make it easier to have a feeling of fullness without eating too much. Because they are complex chains of sugars, it takes the body more time to digest, giving you a stable source of energy throughout the day. This prevents you from eating too much in each meal and reduces the need to eat a lot in one sitting
If you are trying to lose weight or simply wanting a healthy choice of meal, eating an apple today is a fresh start to you choice of fitness.
Vitamins and Minerals
Apples are packed with essential nutrients, vitamins and minerals. Apples are great sources of Potassium, Calcium, Phosphorus, Magnesium, Manganese, Iron, Sodium, Copper and Zinc (Decuypere, J.D., MD, 2018). These are among the minerals needed by the body to function properly.
These are just some of the benefits that this fruit can give. Surely there are a lot of other essential vitamins, minerals and other antioxidants contained in one apple which can aid in your system which I will not look further into. Point is, most of our diet do not contain essential nutrients with the advent of instant meals and processed food. It may be vital to cut back on those and look into fresh sources of minerals and vitamins.
Hopefully this has given you a short insight as to how essential this fruit can be. Let us be fit together!
