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 Researchers now tell us that grandma was right when she said an apple a day would keep the doctor away! The apple is now being called the all-round health food.
Nutritionists suggest that eating two or three apples a day can boost the body's protection against heart disease, thanks to the fruit's amazing ability to reduce blood pressure and lower dangerously high cholesterol levels. In fact, they say, the higher the cholesterol, the greater the benefits will be if you increase your consumption of apples.
Apples are known for many potent healing powers and they contain chemicals scientists believe may fight certain types of cancer. The reason appears to be that apples are loaded with natural acids that have successfully blocked cancer formation in laboratory studies.
Remember that to get the best health benefit, you have to eat the whole thing, skin and all. The skin contains the high level of pectin fiber, which seems to be the basis for the fruit's amazing power to lower cholesterol or blood pressure, balance blood sugar content and fight off cancer.
Apples are an excellent food source for diabetics and others who need to control blood sugar levels. They rank high among foods that best control blood sugar. Even though the apple is a rich source of natural sugar, something about its content does not cause a rapid, often dangerous rise in blood sugar. also, it prevents the body from pumping out too much insulin which, in turn, helps bring down blood cholesterol and blood pressure.
Whole apples (as opposed to just the juice) are great for dieters. They suppress appetite without robbing the body of necessary nutrients. The rise in blood glucose levels that occurs when you eat an apple makes you feel fuller.
Apple juice also helps keep you healthy and helps the healing process - especially if you're suffering from colds or viruses. People who eat apples regularly have far fewer colds and upper respiratory problems. And researchers have noted that apple eaters also suffered far fewer stress-related illnesses.
The apple may also be the only healing food capable of taking care of two opposite complaints at the same time - constipation and diarrhea.
First apples or applesauce have been used for centuries to help people get back on a regular diet after suffering bouts of diarrhea. The pectin in the apple fiber apparently is the healing factor, which explains why it is included in one of the popular over-the-counter diarrhea remedies. Also, that same fiber is what dietitians have been telling us for decades is necessary to keep us regular and to prevent constipation.
Finally, apples are not only a super healing food, but, as nature's original toothbrushes, they may even prevent cavities, a fact that many of our ancestors probably learned through trial and error, but that modern day researchers have confirmed in the laboratory.
One group of scientists doing a recent study found that apples actually helped clean teeth among a control group of children and therefore significantly cut down on the risk of tooth decay.
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