Why You Really SHOULD Eat An Apple A Day!
cancer, aging, hair loss prevention, reduce cholesterol, colon health
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The beginning of autumn means that we're entering apple season. Apples have been a staple of healthy eating for many years, and the often-repeated line of an apple a day keeping the doctor away is far from a myth. Apples really do have a wonderful variety of nutritional benefits, and are a tasty addition to any diet of good health and longevity.
Of all of the fruits we eat, apples are the best source of pectin, a natural fiber that has several health benefits. Apples also contain phytochemicals, quercetin, tannins, and antioxidants, all of which have different healthy properties. Below is a list of the top five benefits of making apples a standard part of your daily diet.
1. Apples improve the bowels. Pectin is a source of dietary fiber and a very handy nutrient to have in one's diet. While it is also found in citrus fruits, plums, and other fruits, apples have the highest concentration of them all. Pectin works to increase the stool's volume and resistance of fluids and is therefore helpful in treating constipation, diarrhea, and generally improving the health of the bowels. Studies have also found that apple pectin reduces the incidence of colon tumors, and that has been demonstrated to reduce the risk of colon cancer.
2. Apples lower cholesterol. A study on nutrition and heart disease found that eating three apples a day for three months can help you to drop your cholesterol by at least 20 points. How does this happen? Apple pectin, that miraculous source of dietary fiber, helps to draw bad LDL cholesterol out of the system. Not only that, but the antioxidant quercetin that is found in apples inhibits the LDL cholesterol from even accumulating in the body's bloodstream. When it comes to lowering one's cholesterol, apples provide a cocktail of nutritional benefits that are hard to pass up.
3. Apples reduce the risk of cancer. Apples do not stop at merely preventing colon cancer. The high amounts of querceti... read entire entry
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on 10/2/2008
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28
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Sweet Disturbing Facts
refined sugar, insulin, obesity, mood swings, aging
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When it comes to nutrition value refined sugar is close to zero.
Because of the industrial processes involved in manufacturing, sugar has very, very little nutrition value: The vitamins and enzymes have become denatured (loose their molecular shape) and thus fail to contribute to the body's metabolic requirements. Refined sugar is also devoid of mineral content.
-It is pure energy
For those who frequently eat significant amounts of refined sugar products, this can lead to many problems.
Because a large intake of sugar causes a sharp rise in blood glucose, the pancreas jets out high levels of insulin as a sudden response. The insulin converts glucose into glycogen as storage in the liver.
However, the overreaction of high insulin more than converts the excess glucose. This results in the blood having lower than normal glucose levels. Consequently, hunger is felt. Remember that, an individual in this circumstance has more than enough glucose, but it has been converted as storage in the liver.
So the need to munch away again is carried out (more sugar perhaps?). The even more excess glucose from this next eating binge causes the glucose storage to get converted into fat...Frequent recurrences of this situation can lead to obesity and type '2 diabetes.
-It can cause Type-2 Diabetes
Diabetes is the body's inability to control the blood glucose levels. Diabetes type-1 is where there is insufficient insulin; a lack of insulin produced from the pancreas needed to regulate sugar levels. In the case of diabetes type-2 the insulin levels needed are sufficient. However, the insulin produced is ineffective: What this means is the insulin is not in any way defective but is ineffective in that the body's cells do not respond to it. With reference to the earlier point regarding the constantly high sugar intake and high insulin levels as a response: After a wh... read entire entry
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on 5/22/2008
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28.7
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