Apples –                                          
Benefits that is skin deep

Healing advantages:
Provide Antioxidants
Protect your heart
Prevent cancer
Prevent Alzheimer’s disease


Crisp, sweet and rich in vitamin C, apples have long been touted as a beneficial fruit. And, according to Statistics Canada, apples are among consumers' favorite fruits with Canadians eating an average of 6.8 kilograms per person. From tart to sweet, apple growers have bumped up their selection generously and now offer a wide variety from Honey crisp to Gravenstein to Vista Bella.The good news is that recent studies have lent new support to the old saying, "An apple a day keeps the doctor away." Researchers have found that compounds in apples may protect against cancer, prevent asthma and sharpen memory. Here's a roundup of the latest research on the healing powers of the forbidden fruit.

We used to say an apple a day keeps the doctor away`, but nutritional experts say that today we would have to eat at least TEN apples to get the same nutritional value that was in one apple 100 years ago. Our food today may look good, but it lacks the flavour and nutritional value it once had, because it contains only a fraction of the necessary minerals.

There are over 90 Nutrients that the body needs to function optimally. These include at least 60 minerals, 16 vitamins, 12 amino acids and 3 essential fatty acids. Ideally we would get all of these nutrients from our diet alone. Unfortunately today’s lifestyle and foods do not allow us to do this, even if we eat a very well balanced organic diet.


Why are we not getting these nutrients from our diet? Due to modern farming techniques the precious farming areas around the world are being overworked and are seriously depleted of minerals. As a result, foods grown on these depleted soils are also empty of minerals and other essential nutrients. The introduction of synthetic fertilizers, which generally contain only three minerals, Phosphorous, Nitrogen and Potassium, whilst beautifully promoting plant growth, do nothing to address the depletion of the 60 minerals required for human health.
A summary of the United States Senate Document #264 by the US Congress back in 1936, states that Laboratory tests prove U.S. farm and range soils are depleted of minerals and that the grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts, eggs and milk are not what they were a few generations ago. The document adds that people who eat these foods develop mineral deficiency diseases which can only be corrected by including mineral supplements in their diet, it also states that approximately 99% of the U.S. population are deficient in minerals All the medical research and billions of dollars spent to find cures, have not halted the advance of killer diseases, and yet Dr Linus Pauling, winner of two Nobel Prizes stated decades ago that: `You can trace every sickness, every disease and every ailment to a mineral deficiency. Without these minerals it is impossible for the regeneration process in the cell to occur. None of the functions of the body can occur (properly) without ALL of the minerals are trace minerals present.


THE MISSING LINK IN TODAY`S NUTRITION


Our bodies function electrically, and organic colloidal minerals are the essential sparks of life that generate and maintain the body’s electrical production.


MINERALS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR

* Tens of thousands of bio-chemical functions

* Enzyme function
* All metal and Physical processes
* Hormonal secretion of our endocrine glands
* Biochemical activity of vitamins
* Neutralizing of acid and toxic conditions within the body
* The balance of internal and external pressures of the body cells
* Playing a critical role in the synthesis of DNA
* Regeneration of cells.

All bodily processes are dependent on the action of minerals, with the proper efficiency of each mineral being enhanced by balanced amounts of the others.
When our bodies cannot continuously produce healthy cells due to lack of certain minerals, we prematurely age, develop an endless variety of diseases and die before our time.

What can we do to live longer and healthier?
Before rushing out to buy some mineral tablets, heed some advice. Minerals come in several different forms, an not all are easily assimilated by the body. The most commonly available are simple inorganic metallic minerals, which have only 3 - 12% absorption - not great value for your dollar! Research has developed a process that `wrap` the mineral in an amino acid, whereby these hard to absorb minerals can be made more bioavailability, up to 20 - 45%.

But remember the body needs 60 minerals for optimal health and the best way to get all of them in a natural form is through a colloidal liquid mineral drink. Originating from plants, which absorb metallic minerals through their roots and convert them into colloidal minerals that are hydrophilic or soluble, these minerals contain live, energized nutrients, which immediately go to work in cell throughout the body and are almost 100% absorbable.

Apples filled with antioxidants

Surely, some of the most powerful disease-fighting components in apples are phenolics, and they have been under the most resent spotlight reaches. Phenolics are a type of photochemical that that can act as powerful antioxidants, neutralizing free radicals before the have a chance to harm your DNA and other important components within your body. Research has shown that apples have the second highest antioxidant activity in named fruits.

The old proverb of an apple a day keeps the doctor away is proving to be true. If there is any one thing that you can do to stay well then it is to eat at least two apples daily according to a whole raft of new scientific research which places apples at the top of the healthy-living tree.

It may sound far-fetched but an apple contains so many beneficial ingredients that it will protect you from contracting a whole range of life threatening conditions such as cancer or suffering a stroke. The latest pioneering research in America has revealed that drinking apple juice and eating apples can reduce the risk of heart disease. The clinical trial involved healthy adults drinking 12oz of 100 per cent apple juice daily or eating two apples. The time it took for cholesterol in the body to oxidize, or break down, increased by up to 20 per cent after just six weeks of following the apple diet. It turns out that apples contain phytonutrients or phytochemicals (compounds found in plants) which act as antioxidants against LDL (low-density lipoproteins), the damaging portion of cholesterol in the blood stream.

Apples are also rich in pectins, which are soluble fibers which it has been demonstrated are effective in lowering cholesterol levels. Dianne Hyson, a registered dietician and lead researcher of the study, said: 'Previous studies have shown that eating fruits and vegetables is associated with a reduced risk of coronary artery disease, but this is the first clinical study to show the potential benefits of active compounds in apple juice and apples.'

'A very moderate intake of apple juice or apples has the potential to reduce risk factors for heart disease in a fairly short period of time,' she said. 'These small diet changes might play an important role in a heart healthy diet.'

Other amazing facts about apples

Apples ward off strokes

Finnish researchers found that individuals who ate the most apples had the lowest risk of suffering a stroke, due to the benefits of the active compounds called phytonutrients found in apples. Their conclusion was based on evaluation of dietary records and health outcomes of 9,208 men followed for 28 years.

Apples give you better lungs

British researchers found that apple eaters had better lung function than non-apple eaters. After analyzing the health and dietary records of 2,512 men, scientists discovered a strong link between positive lung function and the number of apples eaten each week. Although other researchers had suggested that vitamin C from fresh fruit was responsible for improving lung function, this investigation found otherwise. These researchers believe that it is the consumption of antioxidant-like phytonutrients in apples, such as flavonoids especially one member called quercetin which reduces the risk of cancer and heart attacks. This they say provides an explanation for the healthful effect of apples.

Apples beat cancer

Researchers in Hawaii found that an increased consumption of quercetin (from apples and onions) was associated with a reduced risk of lung cancer. Epidemiologists from Finland’s National Public Health Institute who concluded that a flavonoid-rich diet (and particularly those flavonoids from apples) was associated with a reduced risk of developing cancer supported this.

Their study of 9,959 cancer-free men and women revealed that people who regularly consumed the most flavonoid-rich foods were about 20 per cent less likely to develop cancer. The researchers found that lung cancer was 46 percent lower among those on these diets and that high consumption of apples was directly associated with the lowest risk for coronary mortality. This conclusion was based on their analysis of diet and health outcomes of an ongoing study of 5,133 Finnish men and women aged 30-69, who were initially free of heart disease when the study began in 1967.

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