An Apple a Day Keeps the Doctor Away. Really?

I have found numerous websites that relate to nutrition, foods, and health in general, but the one site that I kept coming back to was http://www.nutrition-and-you.com. It seemed to be the simplest to understand and it kept repeating some the same definitions of words that I’ve heard, but never quite really understood. So, most of my info will be paraphrased from this site. I will only restate what I felt was the most important for me to remember, because at 46 I am losing memory and it’s hard to remember statistics – unlike my husband!

The Apple:

Nutrition Facts: Apples are crunchy and very popular among people who are health conscious. These people are convinced that “health is wealth.” The apple is filled with rich phyto-nutrients that are absolutely necessary for optimal health. It echoes the adage, “an apple a day keeps the doctor away.”

The tree is thought to come from the mountain ranges of Kazakhstan and now being cultivated in many parts of the world. It has a peel that comes in many different colors depending on the cultivar type. Don’t eat the seeds though.

Health Benefits:

• Essential for optimal growth, development, and overall wellness.
• Low in calories
• No saturated fats or cholesterol
• Rich in dietary fiber – helps prevent absorption of LDL cholesterol – which is the BAD kind, in your gut. Fiber also helps protect the colon mucous membrane from exposure to toxic substances that bind to cancer-causing chemicals inside the colon.
• Rich in antioxidant phyto-nutrients and helps the body protect from causing harm or damage by the effects of free radicals that may enter the your body.
• Good source of Vitamin C which helps the body develop resistance against infection.
• Good source of B-complex vitamins (riboflavin, thiamin, and pyridoxine (also known as B-6). These all help with your metabolism.
• Contain other minerals: phosphorus, and calcium and…
  potassium – which is an important component of cell and body fluids and it helps control heart-rate and blood pressure and therefore counters bad influences of sodium.

Selection and Storage:

• Can find them in stores anytime of the year.
• Choose fresh, bright, and firm apples
• Store at room temperature or in frig (that’s where I like to keep them) and they will keep up to two weeks in there.

I’ve always wondered what type of apples are great for just eating, cooking with, in pies, etc. and this website is perfect for me since I am a visual person.

epicurious.com

So, does the Apple really help keep the doctor away? Well, since my last official appointment with my cardiologist, I had a heart catheterization done. I had lost up to eight pounds of fluid and didn’t feel nervous the night before the procedure. I felt good.

Today I met with my cardiologist to go over the report and she indicated that all the heavy stuff we talked about before is no longer on the table. My heart valves are actually pumping as a normal person’s heart would perform and although my potassium level was super high and sodium levels were low, we just need to adjust medicine and I should get back to a new normal, but without as much diuretic medicine and she didn’t want to see me for two months and then we will discuss how things look then, and I may not need to come back for a longer period to check in with her! I’ll miss her though. This has been somewhat of a fun new path to walk!