“Phytonutrients are bioactive compounds that aren’t essential nutrients but have a positive effect on health. They are found only in plants. Plants produce phytochemicals for two purposes: first, to defend themselves against external enemies, meaning fungi, bacteria and viruses, and second, to fight free radicals, which break molecules down,” Pitsi explained. The phytonutrient content depends on the fruit, its growing conditions, its ripeness and many other factors.
Apple phytonutrients help regulate, for example, the body’s blood sugar level. An apple doesn’t contain very much of the dietary fiber needed for digestion (a hundred-gram apple contains only 1.8 grams of dietary fiber, of which less than 50 percent is pectin, a fat-soluble fiber). Even so, combined with the other nutrients in an apple, this fiber becomes a health-promoting whole that you would normally associate with eating a much larger amount of dietary fiber. Above all, this matters for regulating and lowering the level of lipids, i.e. the fat components, in the blood, which helps prevent heart disease and benefits the cardiovascular system.
Nutrients
According to Pitsi, an apple contains nearly all nutrients, minerals and vitamins, but mostly in relatively small amounts. What you can’t get from an apple at all is vitamin D and vitamin B12. An apple does, however, contain quite a lot of potassium, which, in the nutrition specialist’s words, is needed above all for the work of the muscles, including the heart muscle. Potassium also regulates the amount of water in tissues, helps keep blood pressure normal, stimulates the elimination of toxic waste products and benefits skin health.
“Vitamin C is an antioxidant and is associated above all with fighting fatigue, stress and illness, but it also helps, for example, with the absorption of iron of non-animal origin,” Pitsi explained. Vitamin C is also needed to form connective tissue in the skin and bones, helping to maintain the elasticity of blood vessels. It also helps the brain function normally, balances blood cholesterol levels and keeps bones resilient and teeth and gums healthy.
Too many apples
Still, it isn’t good to eat too many apples. “Your entire diet has to be varied. But if you eat another 10–15 apples a day on top of your usual diet, the extra kilos can creep on quite easily at some point,” Pitsi noted.
Eating three or five apples a day, on the other hand, is no cause for concern, according to the nutrition specialist. “But that depends on a great many things, for example how much energy a person needs per day. The usual recommendation is 2–4 portions of fruit a day. On the one hand, they contain sugars to some extent, and we get quite a lot of them from fruit. On the other hand, if you fill up on apples, you won’t have room to eat other things,” Pitsi acknowledged.
Some people can’t eat apples at all, because they get stomach pain and gas. “This may be related to the acids in apples. Some people may not tolerate them as well,” Pitsi suggested as one possible reason.
According to the nutrition specialist, the best way to preserve apples is to dry them or make sugar-free juice from them, since jam and compote usually have a lot of sugar added. If you make juice from apples that have sat for a while and ripened further, it turns out sweet even without sugar. Heating the juice reduces the content of vitamin C, as well as of B vitamins such as folates.
Author:Turg.Fitness.ee
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