An apple a day clears cholesterol 2 tips without losing nutrients

Apple polyphenols and pectin in apples can help reduce bad cholesterol and protect cardiovascular.

A Western proverb says, "An apple a day keeps the doctor away." Eating apples can help protect the cardiovascular system, but there are two common practices that compromise the benefits of apples.

An apple a day can lower bad cholesterol and protect cardiovascular

Apples with moderate sweetness and sourness can be eaten all year round. In the early era when substances were relatively scarce, it was even a high-end gift for people to visit the hospital. Li Yingda, director of Cihang Traditional Chinese Medicine Clinic, said that apples are flat fruits and can be eaten by any body type.

"Apples are really mild," said Liang Jiawei, a consultant nutritionist at "The Dietitian's Table", and apples are moderately sweet, unlike some fruits. In addition, apples are rich in apple polyphenols and quercetin, which are very good antioxidants, which can inhibit lipid peroxidation in the body and help protect the cardiovascular system.

A small study conducted by The Ohio State University in 2012 divided 51 healthy adults between the ages of 40 and 60 into three groups: the first group ate an apple a day, and the second group ate apple polyphenols. capsules, and the third group was given a placebo.

After one month, the research team found that the group that ate an apple a day had a 40% reduction in bad cholesterol in their blood. In the group taking apple polyphenol capsules, the effect of lowering cholesterol was not as good as eating apples alone. The placebo group showed no change at all.

In addition to apple polyphenols, eating apples directly can also get rich pectin. Pectin is a water-soluble dietary fiber, which can reduce the time that bad cholesterol stays in the blood and reduce bad cholesterol in the body. It also increases satiety, promotes bowel movements, and aids in bowel movements.

Apples mainly include red apples, green apples and yellow apples. Although the skin color is different, the overall nutritional difference is not big. For example, Liang Jiawei said that the iron content of red apples is higher, and the quercetin content of green apples is higher, but the difference is actually very small. Therefore, a better way is not to fix which apple to eat, in order to balance the intake of different phytochemicals.

You can take turns eating apples of different colors to get a variety of phytochemicals.

In addition, a small number of people who eat apples should pay attention to:

Diabetic patients: No matter how sweet the fruit is, it contains a certain amount of sugar. Therefore, diabetic patients should control the consumption of apples and do not make them into fruit juice, otherwise blood sugar will rise faster.

People with poor stomach: Some apples have high acidity, people with bad stomach or stomach ulcers, should not eat on an empty stomach, it is safer to eat after meals.

Constipation patients: Although eating apples can help defecation, apples are rich in pectin and can easily absorb water. If you don't drink enough water at the same time, it will not stimulate the peristalsis of the intestines, nor make the fiber swell, causing the fiber to become dry and hard during the process of forming stool in the intestine, and it cannot be smoothly excreted. Liang Jiawei suggested that people with constipation should not eat more than 2 apples a day.

Apple and cinnamon are good partners for weight loss

Apple is regarded as a good helper for weight loss because of its low calorie and satiety, but some people may eat apples with meals in order to lose weight quickly. Liang Jiawei said that weight loss should be to control the overall calorie, and adopt a balanced diet to lose weight for a long time. She recommends using apples as a weight loss fruit, as a snack, or as a meal of choice.

When eating apples, it goes well with cinnamon. Liang Jiawei introduced that the two not only taste very good, but cinnamon also has the effect of suppressing appetite.

It can be an apple with a cup of cinnamon tea, or sprinkle cinnamon powder on the apple and bake it in the oven. If you have an air fryer at home, you can also air fry sliced ​​apples to make dried fruit and sprinkle with cinnamon powder. Although apples lose some phytochemicals during the heating process, they are still relatively healthy snacks.

Apple and cinnamon dessert, very suitable for eating when losing weight.

2 tips for eating apples, nutrition is not discounted

When eating apples, there are 2 tips to eat healthier:

Tip 1: Eat with apple peel

Do you peel the apple and eat it, or do you eat it with the skin on? If it is the former, the nutrition of the apple peel will be wasted.

Liang Jiawei said that apple peel has a lot of good nutrients and fiber, and most people can eat it with the pulp. The only thing to note is that children and the elderly are not suitable for eating apple peels, which may be difficult to digest. For children under the age of 3, apple peels are too irritating to their stomachs. The elderly have bad teeth, and it is also recommended to peel them before eating.

How to clean without peeling apples:

1. Prepare warm water and a soft vegetable cloth (or sponge), and gently brush the surface of the apple.

2. Put the peeled apples into clean water (without salt), soak them for 10-15 minutes, pick them up and wipe them before eating.

Tip 2: Do not soak in salt water

The enzymes in apples are oxidase, which will oxidize and brown after being exposed to air for a long time. Many people soak apples in salt water in order to inhibit browning. However, apple itself is a fruit with low sodium content, and soaking in salt water will have the problem of high sodium, especially for patients with kidney disease and high blood pressure.

And even if it has been soaked in salt water, the apple will turn black after a long time. Therefore, after cutting the apple, it is recommended to eat it within 15 minutes.

If you need to leave it for a long time, such as entertaining guests, Liang Jiawei provides 2 good ways to delay the discoloration of apples:

1. Vitamin C foam tablet or capsule: Vitamin C also has an antioxidant effect. Add vitamin C to the water to foam the tablet or open the vitamin C capsule, pour the powder inside, and finally put the apple to soak.

2. Lemon juice: Lemons also contain vitamin C. Add about half a lemon juice to the water in which the apples are soaked.

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