Apples and Weight Loss?
Sábado, Septiembre 27th, 2008 Apples
The Ancient Greeks, Arabs and Egyptians believed the apple healed all ailments.
Researchers at Michigan State University call the apple ?? the all around health food.?
Apples have these important benefits: They help stabilize blood sugar, an important factor in controlling diabetes.
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. Apples also contain chemicals that scientists believed are vital in stopping cancer, and they also prevent tooth decay.
The apple?s ability to keep our hearts healthy and pumping has been confirmed by U.S., French and Italian researchers, among others.
One reason for this may be the pectin in the apple, that soluble fiber that is usually squeezed out to make jelly. In another study, when a group of 30 middle aged men added three apples per day to their diets without changing anything else 80% of them showed a significant reduction in cholesterol levels from 10 ? 20 percent. Even more surprising was the fact that the apple boosted the HDL, or ?good? cholesterol in the blood, while reducing the LDL, or ?bad? cholesterol, that?s responsible for clogging up the arteries, a condition that can lead to fatal heart attacks or disabling strokes.
Also, apples prevent the body from pumping out too much insulin which, in turn, helps bring down blood cholesterol and blood pressure. Some people just have to smell an apple to get the benefit. Researchers have noted that apple eaters also suffered far fewer stress related illnesses.
Whole apples (as opposed to just the juice) are great for dieters. In addition, the apple juice helps keep you healthy and it helps during the healing process, especially if your are suffering from colds or viruses.
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 Kaopectate, an over the counter diarrhea remedy. Scientists in Norway found that children who ate apples had cleaner teeth than those who did not, and they also had significantly less risk of tooth decay.