An APPLE a Day keeps the Doctor away

Many people, both young and old, name apples as one of their favorite fruits for snacking. Apples are delicious, easy to carry for snacking, low in calories, a natural mouth freshener, and they are still very inexpensive. It's no coincidence that apples are the symbol of good health. In the Middle Ages, the English said "To eat an apple before going to bed will make the doctor beg his bread."

Nutritional Facts of Apples

• Apples come in many varieties - Apples come in a range of interesting flavors, offering a variety not available in most other fruits and vegetables.
• Apples are absolutely fat-free.
• Contains no sodium - helps reduce risk of high blood pressure.
• Is an excellent source of fiber - helps reduce cholesterol and may help prevent certain types of cancer.
• Has only 80 calories.
• Contains no cholesterol.
• Contains no artificial colors or flavors.
• Apples are loaded with pectin, a soluble fiber that aids digestion and may help reduce cancer and heart disease.
• The complex carbohydrates in apples give your body a longer, more even energy boost compared to high-sugar snacks. Snacking on apples can keep you going throughout the day.
• Apples provide boron, an essential trace element that helps harden bones. Strong bones help prevent osteoporosis.
• People who eat lots of apples may have lower rates of lung cancer, judging by a study done in Finland.

Types of Apples Avaliable There are hundreds of varieties of apples on the market today. It is a good idea to eat apples with their skin. Almost half of the vitamin C content is just underneath the skin. Eating the skin also increases insoluble fiber content. Most of an apple's fragrance cells are also concentrated in the skin and as they ripen, the skin cells develop more aroma and flavor.

Best Apple recipe

Apples can be canned, juiced, and optionally fermented to produce apple juice, cider and vinegar, Apples are an important ingredient in many desserts, for example apple pie, apple crumble, and the always popular apple cake.

They are often eaten baked or stewed, and they can also be dried and eaten or re-constituted (soaked in water, alcohol or some other liquid) for later use.

Toffee apples are always nice! But, why not try something different, such as Apple Waffles.

Apple Waffles -

Ingredients

2 medium eggs.
2 cups of milk.
2 cups of pancake mix.
1 cup of finely chopped apple.
? cup of melted butter.
1 teaspoon of cinnamon.

Method

Place the eggs, milk, pancake mix and melted butter in bowl.

Beat with a mixer until the batter is fairly smooth.

Stir in the finely chopped apple.

Bake in a hot waffle iron until steaming stops.

Note- if you do not have a waffle iron you can always just make pancakes- they taste just as good!

Serve as desired.

?

The custom of serving fresh fruit, particularly apples, at the end of a meal arose because of the favorable effects on digestion attributed to people by the physicians. So next time when you go for a shopping don't forget to pick some nice fresh apples for your family.

(Sources: urbanext.uiuc.edu, health.learninginfo.org, applerecipes.us?)