An apple a day...

I love Apples! Apples are definitely in season in the U.S. and now is a great time to get local apples at a farmer's market or harvest festival. If local apples are not available to you, buy organic at your local health food store. My favorite is the pink lady apple. Gala and Fuji apples are also very popular. I suggest you try a few types. If you buy organic, you'll taste the difference.

Did you know that the apple tree may be the first cultivated tree in human history? Apples have been a popular health food for centuries. In Germanic and Norse mythology apples were given to the gods to keep them young and we all know the saying about an apple a day. So what is so great about a regular old apple?

Weight Loss: At only 65 calories a pop, an apple is pretty darn filling and those apple skins will give your colon a gentle scrub too.

Diabetes: Okay, sugar is sugar. So you still need to be careful. But your body cannot operate w/out sugars and unprocessed fruit sugars are definitely the way to go. An apple has approximately 13g of sugar so smear a little bit of your favorite almond or peanut butter on apple slices to balance them out with a little bit of protein. My son loves this! (Check the labels for corn syrup. Yuck!)

Heart Health: An apple has less than 1 mg of sodium, 0 mg of cholesterol, and 12% of your daily fiber, mostly soluble. This fruit packs some artery cleaning power!

Apples are not the highest in Vitamin C but they do hold some pretty high antioxidant power with phenolic compounds like Quercetin. This makes apples great for your skin and pretty decent cancer prevention.

Are apples the fountain of youth? Maybe not. But they are an inexpensive and tasty way to do something great for yourself today. This week: I challenge you to eat an organic or local apple every day. At the end of the week tell me how apples make you feel.

Spinach & Apple Salad
 http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/spinach-apple-salad/Detail.aspx#