Why Are Apples Good for You?
Everybody has heard the saying, 'an apple a day keeps the doctor away', but how much truth is there to this, and exactly why are apples good for you? In this article you are going to find out how apples are good for you, with information ranging from apple calories to the nutrients that you are going to find inside an apple. If this tasty fruit is not already a part of your regular diet, then hopefully you will learn something here that will encourage you enough to change that.
Why are apples good for you?
Let's start off by highlighting the reasons that apples are good for you, before we go onto covering them individually in more detail. Apples are a natural fruit that are grown on trees all over the world. They are highly nutritious and can help top up levels of many of the essential vitamins and minerals that your body require regularly. There are few foods in the world that hold as many nutritional benefits as the apple. For anybody who is on a diet or likes to keep a count of their calories, the apple is a wonderful edition to any meal plan or snack as there are so few calories in an apple.
Apples nutritional benefits
There are many nutritional benefits that can be obtained from eating an apple, that paint a clear picture as to how apples are good for you. In this section I am going to clearly highlight what these are.
Keeping your body nourished involves making sure that you are getting sufficient levels of all of the essential vitamins and minerals each day. Not only will these nutrients keep your body working in the many ways we all take for granted, but they also provide various benefits as well that help both our short, and long term health.
But which of these nutrients are you going to find inside an apple? This is a very good questions, and the list of vitamins and minerals below will provide you with the answer.
Let's start off with the three essential minerals that your body requires a regular dose of, these are known as 'essential' because more of them is required than the other 'trace' minerals.
* Potassium - Great for energy and the development of your muscles.
* Calcium - The apple contains this essential mineral that provides you with strong teeth and bones.
* Magnesium - Magnesium helps to lower cholesterol.
A trace mineral is something that your body still needs a regular dose of, just a smaller amount.
* Phosphorus - Plays a critical role in the body's ability to create energy.
* Manganese -Vital for bones structure and bone metabolism.
* Iron - Iron is vital for creating blood cells that carry oxygen around the body to where it is needed.
* Sodium - Regulates ions in our bodily fluids and tissues.
* Copper - Aids the development and maintenance of the cardiovascular system.
* Zinc - Zinc helps with your metabolism and immune system.
All of the above minerals are found inside apples, and portray how apples are food for you. That's not all though we are yet to cover the vitamins found in them!
* Vitamin A - Aids skin, vision and also helps to renew body tissue.
* Vitamin B1 - Strengthen nerves and improves brain functionality.
* Vitamin B2 - Breaks down proteins, fats, and carbohydrates, and helps produce energy, as well as being a useful antioxidant.
* Vitamin B3 / Niacin - Niacin benefits include playing a pivotal role in the body's ability to produce energy, as well as helping to regulate our calcium.
* Folate - Responsible for the creation of cells within the body.
* Vitamin C - High in this important vitamin, a powerful antioxidant.
* Vitamin E - Provides healthy skin amongst other things.
* Vitamin K - Prevents cardiovascular blockages.
Who would have thought that such a small piece of fruit would be able to provide your body with so many nutritional benefits. Apples really are incredibly beneficial to the human body, and helping you to keep your levels of all the above nutrients up is the key example of why apples are good for you.
How about apple calories?
We have covered the fact that the apple is a highly nutritious fruit, but one question that is going to be on the tip of many peoples' tongue, is how many calories are in an apple?
Well the number of apple calories that you consume are naturally going to depend on the size of the apple that you are eating. But overall you are going to be relieved to know that there are very few calories to worry about when it comes to consuming any size or type of apple.
Here are few quick examples of why apples are good for you as far as the calories in them go:
* A medium sized apple weighing approximately 6.5 oz including the skin has approximately 97 calories.
* A medium sized apple weighing approximately 5.7 oz without the skin has approximately 77 apple calories.
When you consider that foods deemed as bad for you are generally high in calories, the apple is a prime example of a food that can provide you with a range of nutritious benefits as well as barely making an impact on your calorie allowance. If you fancy a snack an apple at less than 100 calories makes much more sense than a whopper from Burger King that holds some 670 calories!