
You've heard the saying, "An apple a day keeps the doctor away."
Do you think there is any truth to it?
We sort of take apples for granted. Can the humble apple really keep you healthy? A friend taught me that there might be something to this folk wisdom.
Better than Prunes
We had friends visit recently. They brought apples with them because one of them needs to make sure she eats an apple every day.
She confided to me that for years, she ate prunes daily to "stay regular". But prunes didn't do as good of a job as she needed.
Apples, she has learned, work better than prunes.
I appreciate the importance of staying regular and not backing up. Gut health is the foundation of whole body health. If you are constipated, your body is not eliminating toxins and it will cause cascading problems that affect your entire body.
Incidentally, most prunes contain preservatives like potassium sorbate. Preservatives negatively affect your microbiome. The benefits of prunes are counteracted, to a degree, by the preservatives in them. If you want to eat prunes, seek a brand that is free of preservatives. I wonder if this may even be the reason prunes weren't doing it for her...
By that same token, fresh apples without additives are going to be more beneficial than processed apples with added ingredients.
The Role of Prebiotics
In my blog that compares your gut to a hamster cage, I described the importance of creating an environment in your gut for the right kind of probiotics to grow by eating healthy food, because if you eat food that is bad for you, the good bacteria won't flourish. Bad ones will.
Another way to describe good food in the gut is "prebiotics".
Prebiotics are good food, or components of good food, that nurture a healthy microbiome filled with the right kind of probiotics (bacteria, etc.).
Apples have large amounts of pectin, a dietary fiber that is a prebiotic. Pectin stays intact through your digestive system into your colon, where it promotes the growth of good bacteria.
Pectin improves the ratio of bacteriodetes to firmicutes. Those are the two major types of bacteria in your colon and you want them to be in balance. Firmicutes proliferate in people whose diets are high in simple carbs, and a heavy firmicute load is associated with obesity and type 2 diabetes. Apples promote bacteriodete growth, which is associated with good health.
As a soluble fiber, pectin becomes a gel as it moves through your digestive system. This softens stools and helps move digesta through more quickly.
Pectin strengthens the gastrointestinal immune barrier. It possesses significant anti-inflammatory properties.
Therefore, apples keep you healthy by promoting a healthy gut and keeping you regular.
A healthy, unconstipated gut is the foundation of whole body health. It is your best protection against chronic diseases like obesity, type 2 diabetes, cancer, and heart disease.
Who knew? Maybe if the saying was something like, "an apple a day keeps you regular", more people would know to use them for that!

Obviously, it is still important to choose only foods that are good for you, avoid processed foods, and do everything else that fits into a healthy lifestyle--even if you eat an apple a day.
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