Benefits of apples

by admin | Jan 7, 2022 | Health

Benefits of apples

Apples - Crunch Your Way to Health

There’s no easier way to add a dose of nutrition to your day than by crunching on a tasty apple. You probably first experienced its delightful flavour as a baby, when apple sauce introduced you to real food. And now, whether it’s a Granny Smith, a McIntosh, or a Red Delicious, you think of apples as old friends. Grown throughout the world, apples are high in fibre, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. They’re fat-free, cholesterol-free, and low in sodium. In short, eating apples is a smart part of a healthy lifestyle.

6 ways apples keep you healthy

Regulates your day.

You don’t have to worry about staying regular anymore. Whether your problem is visiting the bathroom too often or not often enough, apples can help.

A British researcher, Dr. D.P Burkitt, believes one of the easiest ways to prevent all sorts of illnesses, is to avoid constipation. He calls the diseases caused by chronic constipation “pressure diseases.” Appendicitis, diverticular diseases, haemorrhoids, hiatal hernias, and even varicose veins can all be caused by straining to pass small, hard stools.

Just one apple with its skin contains 4 to 5 grams of fibre – the most important nutrient in keeping your bowels working like a well-oiled machine. Keeping yourself regular without relying on harmful laxatives could be as easy as replacing that afternoon snack of potato chips or cookies with a crisp, delicious apple. And think of the calories you’ll save. The average apple has about 80 calories while a serving of chips weighs in at 150 calories and you’ll get about 200 from just a few cookies.

But that’s not all apples can do. They’re also good for diarrhoea, thanks to an ingredient called pectin. This carbohydrate has a congealing effect in your intestines that helps firm things up and return you to normal. Apple sauce is actually the best apple product for diarrhoea, since it’s made without the high.-fibre skin. But watch out for extra sugar. Some brands of apple sauce dump a truckload of sweeteners into an otherwise healthy food, and too much refined sugar could make your diarrhoea worse.

Keeps your body young.

By now you know antioxidants can protect you from many of the diseases that seem to be a part of aging. In fact, so many people are taking supplements for antioxidant protection that it’s become a multibillion-dollar industry. But the evidence is mounting that whole foods can do more for you than pills.

When scientists compared a 1,500-milligram vitamin C supplement to one small apple, the results were astounding – the antioxidant values were equal. That means a fresh apple has more than 15 times the antioxidant power of the recommended daily dose of vitamin C. And that’s just for starters. The researchers also found an ordinary apple was able to stop the growth of colon and liver cancer cells in test tubes. Unpeeled apples were especially effective. The question you need to ask yourself is: Why waste money on flavourless supplements when you can get better antioxidant firepower from a sweet, crunchy fruit?

Cuts your risk of heart disease. Sometimes it’s hard to remember which food is good for which part of your body. The next time you pick up an apple, examine it carefully. It’s shaped a bit like a heart – and that should help you remember apples are good for your heart.

It’s the magnesium and potassium in apples that help regulate your blood pressure and keep your heart beating steadily, and it’s the flavonoid quercetin, a naturally occurring antioxidant, that protects your artery walls from damage and keeps your blood flowing smoothly.

In fact, adding flavonoid-rich foods like apples to your diet has been scientifically confirmed to lower your risk of heart disease. There’s proof of this in a study of Japanese women who ate foods high in quercetin. They were less likely to get coronary heart disease than other women and they had lower levels of total and LDL, or bad, cholesterol.

Strikes at the heart of strokes.

Apples are even a smart choice for helping avoid strokes. Scientists aren’t sure which ingredient in this multi-talented fruit to credit, but the connection is clear – people who regularly eat apples are less likely to have strokes than people who don’t.

Protects your joints.

In areas of the world where fruits and vegetables make up a large part of the diet, very few people get arthritis. Compare this to modernised countries where fruits and vegetables have been replaced with fast, processed food and you’ll find up to 70 percent of the population suffers from some form of arthritis. Just a coincidence? Not according to nutrition experts. They link this trend in part to boron, a trace mineral many plants, including apples, absorb from the soil.

If you eat like most people, you’ll get about 1 to 2 milligrams (mg) of boron a day, mostly from non-citrus fruits, leafy vegetables, and nuts. Experts believe; however, you need anywhere from 3 to 10 mg a day to affect your risk of arthritis. To boost your boron intake to this level, you’d have to eat more than nine apples a day.

This is probably an unreasonable amount for most people, and wouldn’t be advised…but don’t despair. Pair an apple with other boron-rich foods like a few tablespoons of peanut butter and a large handful of raisins, and you’ll not only have a delicious afternoon snack, but you’ll make your joint-saving quota of boron at the same time.

Helps you breathe deeply.

Your lungs are assaulted every day by cigarette smoke ( even other peoples) , air pollution, pollen, and other air-borne nasties.

On top of that perhaps you suffer from asthma, emphysema, or similar lung condition. If all you want to do is take a deep breath, then grab an apple.

A five-year study of more than 2,500 men from Wales found those who ate five or more apples per week were able to fill their lungs with more air than men who didn’t eat apples.

Incredible!

Experts believe you might be getting some special protection from the antioxidant quercetin. Unfortunately, eating apples can’t reverse a lung condition you already have, but you just might add a new line of defence against further damage.

Pantry pointers

Buy apples that are unbruised, firm, and have good colour. Take them out of their plastic bag and store them in your refrigerator – loose in the produce bin or in a paper bag is best. And since they will absorb odours, keep them away from strong-smelling foods like garlic and onions.

Allergy to Whey Protein

by admin | Jan 7, 2022 | Health

Allergy and intolerance to Dairy and Whey Protein – maybe you need a functional nutritionist?

There are some people who develop allergies to dairy and therefore to any product containing milk or milk proteins or sugars.

Intolerance is slightly different, where one may be lactose intolerant and find it difficult to digest or absorb the product or get undesirable symptoms if it were taken, but this is quite different to an allergy where one should avoid the product all together.

Such cases usually start during infancy and studies have recorded that there are 2-3% of babies who are allergic to milk. However, in some cases babies have a high tendency to outgrow it upon reaching a certain age, although there are some who are better to steer clear from milk all their lives.

One such dairy product that some of us are either allergic to, or have an intolerance to is whey protein.

What causes this allergy to whey protein or any other milk forms? Health experts claim that the allergy is the response of the body’s immune system to one or several proteins primarily found in the cow’s milk. And since casein and whey are the two major components of cow’s milk, some people develop a particular allergy to whey protein. This is basically due to the inability of the body to break up the sugar lactose in milk.

Allergy to whey protein can directly affect and cause distress in the digestive system, and other parts of the body such as the skin and the person’s airways. It can also lead to loose bowel movement and can pose a very serious life threat in some rare cases. When a person has an allergy to whey protein or other milk products, they often suffer characteristic systems such as irritability, abdominal pain and vomiting, recurrent wheezing and skin rashes.  People who are extremely allergic to milk should be extra careful on taking any types of food produce. This is because milk is basically present in many types of food, even when you least expect it. They should be diligent enough to thoroughly read the labels and determine if the particular product contains any allergen and then avoid it.

Some nutritionists have recommended nondairy products as the primary alternative to milk and whey protein products. However, by entirely eliminating milk in the diet could mean the possibility for some, of suffering from calcium deficiency, which would trigger a host of health complications. Lactose intolerants should therefore be encouraged to eat more green leafy vegetables and seafood since they are excellent alternative sources of calcium. Vitamin D should also be included in the diet since it is an established fact that calcium will not be properly absorbed in the body without it.

Individuals who are lactose intolerants and allergic to whey products are often faced with a number of difficulties and it can be particularly stressful. This is mainly because they will not enjoy the freedom of eating certain foods like other people do. The best thing to do is to train them to get used to simple diet changes but at the same time ensure that all the dietary requirements are sufficiently met. Luckily these days there are many plant based alternatives for many dairy products and they are more often than not fortified with the required nutrients so missing out on favourite foods or nutrition should not be necessary.

One of the bigger questions may be why does one person become allergic to something while another is perfectly fine? Why does one get a mild intolerance, yet another must not touch it at all fr fear of a dangerous reaction?

We are all very individual in our genetic make-up and composition and lifestyle.

If you have any strange symptoms or are worried that you may be intolerant or allergic to dairy or in fact any food, its always best to consult a trained nutritionist, dietician or functional doctor, naturopath or a practitioner in functional nutrition. These skilled practitioners can carefully help you pin point exactly why you function the way you do whenever you eat something particular. This can help you learn about yourself, your habits and lifestyle and maybe even find the root cause of the issue and, if not eliminate it altogether, help you to ease the problem considerably.