I exercised a great deal of
constraint today when I opted for an apple instead of a bag of chips with my
restaurant lunch. I didn’t want an apple
over chips but I did it because I knew it was the right choice for me. I have worked with seniors for 16 years and
one of my observations is that many of them make poor nutritional choices. The excuse is that things don’t taste as good
as they used to. It’s true that an apple
or a serving of veggies isn’t as tasty as a hot fudge sundae, but sometimes we
have to learn to enjoy things that are good for us. As kids
we didn’t get to have dessert until we ate our meat and vegetables and our
standard reason was to say “just because.”
The shoe is on the other foot now, but waning appetites make habits a
little harder to change and we can’t force grown-ups to do things that they don’t
want to do.
You know that we all grew up
hearing the adage about “an apple a day keeping the doctor away,” but
statistics show that the average consumer eats only one apple a week. An article by Marsha McCulloch MS. RD. LD. In
Heart Healthy magazine (fall 2009) tells us that this old adage may indeed have
some scientific basis. This is good news,
right? Apples even taste kind of good.
Apples, it seems are one of
the best sources of the powerful antioxidants phenolic and phytostanols, which
are big words that represent quite magical qualities. Studies have been done that show that eating
an apple a day can lower cholesterol, improve bowel function, decrease the risk
of stroke, decreases the risk of prostate caner, type ii diabetes, asthma and
even improve memory. Sounds like good
medicine to me.
To get full nutritional
benefits you should eat at least one fresh apple a day. You can refrigerate apples for 3-5 weeks in
your crisper drawer so no problem keeping them on hand. There a dozens of varieties to choose from,
each with slightly different qualities and yes, it is good to eat the peel too.
It is easy to find ways to
include an apple in your diet. You can core and slice them to add to sandwiches,
make thin matchstick slices to add to tuna, sauté them or add them to
salads. There is applesauce, which is
tasty on its own but can also be used as a substitute for butter in baking, and
you can add chunks of apple to yogurt, bake them, dip them, eat dried as a
snack or even dip slices in chocolate.
The article also discussed gadgets (such as corers, slicers and peelers)
to make preparation easier. So, no
excuses accepted. An apple a day is much
better for you than downing another pill.
Smart seniors know that good nutrition is one of the keys if you want a
healthy independent lifestyle.
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