Apple

Apples are crisp, white-fleshed fruits with red, yellow or green skin. They are common for many smoothie recipes. Apples are moderately sweet and refreshing, depending on the variety. The apple is a member of the rose family, classified as a pome fruit and it is a good source of dietary fiber and vitamin C.

According to the latest research, the old saying, “An apple a day keeps the doctor away,” is fact, not just folklore. Apples fiber, flavonoids and fructose translate into apples’ ability to keep us healthy.

Apples contain both insoluble and soluble fiber. One medium unpeeled apple provides over 3 grams of fiber (more than 10% of the daily fiber intake recommended by experts), which can knock down cholesterol levels, reducing your risk of hardening of the arteries, heart attack, and stroke. Even without its peel, a medium apple provides 2.7 grams of fiber. Most of the apple’s fiber is contained in its skin, as is the majority of its quercitin.

While apple’s insoluble fiber latching on to cholesterol in the digestive tract, removing it from the body, the soluble fiber known as pectin reduces the amount of cholesterol produced in the liver. Eating 2 large apples a day can lower the cholesterol levels by up to 16%!

Eating high fiber foods, such as apples, helps prevent heart disease. Pectin fights toxins like the heavy metals lead and mercury, and ushers them out of the body. Both the soluble and insoluble fibers in apples have cancer-protective activity.