Food FYI - Apples

It's September! School is in session.  Autumn starts this month.  It's so wonderful! I seriously love this time of year.  And a food that is so closely related to this exact month are apples.  Apples are seen in abundance during September - students give their teacher an apple... apples are used in many Fall dishes.  They are just fantastic.

But what about the nutrition of apples? From childhood, we're taught "An apple a day keeps the doctor away. "  Well, did you know that apples can help regulate your blood sugar?  Recent research has shown that apple polyphenols can help prevent spikes in blood sugar.  In addition to this, the polyphenols have been shown to lessen the absorption of glucose in the digestive tract and increase uptake of glucose from the blood via stimulation of insulin receptors.  Long story short - apples regulate blood sugar. 

The whole food form of apples is also important if you want full satisfaction from eating them. That means EAT THE PEEL!  Researchers have recently compared intake of whole apples to intake of applesauce and apple juice, only to discover that people report less hunger (and food satisfaction) after eating whole apples than after eating applesauce or drinking apple juice. But especially interesting was an additional finding about calorie intake following apple consumption. When healthy adults consumed one medium-sized apple approximately 15 minutes before a meal, their caloric intake at that meal decreased by an average of 15%. 

So there's two GREAT reasons to eat apples.  And only two.  So go grab a crisp Gala, Granny Smith, Red Delicious, Fuji, or Golden Delicious (Because those are the varieties that you will most likely see in your local grocery store), and snack away!  And stick around, because you're in for a treat this month with a couple different apple recipes!

Image Source: Wikipedia

Recipes using Apples:

Apple Pie Pancakes
Coming Soon to a Blog Near You (aka, HERE!):
Apple Pie
Roasted Apples
and more!