An Apple A Day Keeps the Doctor Away

 

An Apple a Day Keeps the Doctor Away — Fact or Fiction?

You likely know the familiar expression, “An apple a day keeps the doctor away.”

The phrase was based on a Pembrokeshire proverb that originated in 1866.

“Eat an apple on going to bed, and you’ll keep the doctor from earning his bread.”

So while it might not ALWAYS keep the doctor away fresh apples are a great snack to enjoy during and after our healthy living competition.

Do you want to hear something shocking? For many years I taught a scripture course early in the morning before high school students went on to their public school classes. We often played games and in a rendition of scripture scavenger hunt the kids were always enthusiastically scouring back packs, looking under desks and running to other classrooms in search of an item I had indicated would be rewarded. Nearly every time we played I would have “a piece of fruit” as one of the items they were to grab. And do you know what was shocking? Despite the fact that nearly all of the students had their packed lunches in their back packs they had brought to class, my own children were the only ones that ever had a piece of fresh fruit packed for lunch.

So just a reminder. While fruit sauce packets, fruit strips, juice boxes, fruit chips etc. etc. might be tasty- none of these provides the health benefits of whole fresh fruit. 

So——I am sooooooo excited it is apple season. I admit I am super apple picky, And while I LOVE a fresh crispy apple I do not enjoy apples that were picked 11 months ago and have been kept in cold storage. So NOW is the time to go and grab some fresh, seasonal (and if possible local) apples. 

A couple of years ago we did a family apple taste test. I bought and sliced several varieties of apples and we tasted them all and discovered our very favorite are ENVY apples. They are sweet and tart and super crunchy and they don’t turn brown after cutting— so the perfect sliced lunchbox treat. Yum. What are you favorites? I also love Honey Crisp and Pink lady. 

Adding apples to your diet can help improve several aspects of your health.

Apples have been associated with a number of benefits that could help promote long-term health.

Highly nutritious

Apples are loaded with important nutrients, including fiber, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants:

One medium apple provides the following nutrients

• Calories: 95
• Carbs: 25 grams
• Fiber: 4.5 grams
• Vitamin C: 9% of the Daily Value (DV)
• Copper: 5% of the DV
• Potassium: 4% of the DV
• Vitamin K: 3% of the DV

Apples are also a great source of antioxidants like quercetin, caffeic acid, and epicatechin

Supports heart health

Studies show that eating more apples could be associated with a lower risk of several chronic conditions, including heart disease 

In fact, one study in over 20,000 adults found that consuming higher amounts of white-fleshed fruits and vegetables, including apples, was linked to a lower risk of stroke 

This may be due to the presence of flavonoids found in apples, which are compounds that have been shown to reduce inflammation and protect heart health.

Apples are also loaded with soluble fiber, which may help reduce blood pressure and cholesterol levels, both of which are risk factors for heart disease.

Contains cancer-fighting compounds

Apples contain several compounds that may help prevent cancer formation, including antioxidants and flavonoids. 

According to one review of 41 studies, consuming a higher amount of apples was associated with a decreased risk of developing lung cancer.

Another study observed similar findings, reporting that eating more apples was tied to a lower risk of colorectal cancer .

Other research suggests that a diet rich in fruits and vegetables could protect against cancer of the stomach, colon, lungs, oral cavity, and esophagus.

Other health benefits

Apples have also been linked to several other health benefits that could help keep the doctor away:

• Support weight loss. Due to their fiber content, apples have been shown to promote feelings of fullness, decrease calorie intake, and increase weight loss
• Improve bone health. Human, animal, and test-tube studies have found that eating a higher amount of fruit could be associated with increased bone mineral density and a lower risk of osteoporosis.
• Promote brain function. Animal studies suggest that eating apples could help reduce oxidative stress, prevent mental decline, and slow signs of aging
• Protect against asthma. Studies show that an increased intake of apples may be linked to a lower risk of asthma
• Reduce the risk of diabetes. According to one large review, eating one apple per day was tied to a 28% lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes, compared with not eating any apples at all 

Here is one of my all time favorite recipes for this time of year

SANDEE’S APPLE WALDORF SALAD (I think it serves 2 but my husband thinks that is way too much apple)

2 large apples sliced and chopped (with skin)

1 large rib of celery chopped

1/2 cup low fat vanilla greek yogurt

1 ounce chopped walnuts

So ladies you guessed it. Our bonus challenge this week is to eat one apple per day for our daily 5 bonus points. As always if this challenge doesn’t work for you contact me for an alternate challenge (407-227-2733)

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Time for a PLANK challenge

 

Beautiful Abs and a strong core

Yes it is here the dreaded plank challenge. 

My work out and healthy living partner Gail will attest to my weak, pitiful, face grimacing planks. I really need to work on it daily. 

Some time ago she completed a month long plank challenge and the increase in her strength and tone were incredible. It's crazy that planking requires no equipment, takes very little time and yields incredible benefits but it's still something few of us do regularly. 

Shape Magazine suggests "Core exercises like the plank help train muscles to stabilize the spine and pelvis so you can avoid back pain and improve posture." I know that's true- often we have a sore back, shoulders or neck because these muscles are trying to compensate for a weak core and abdomen.

Since planks are one of the most effective ways to get a good ab work out I would recommend you start a daily plan challenge like this one and continue it beyond this week of competition and maybe even beyond the end of our challenge 

As with any exercise if you give a good and consistent effort you will improve continually.

My older daughter used to be a Pilates instructor and she had a couple in their 50's that could hold a plank for 7 minutes. You too can do incredible things if you make consistent, concerted effort. 

If you find doing a full plank too difficult you might want to begin with one of these modifications

The knee elbow plank

or The Wall Plank

Along with a regular plank the following are extremely helpful in getting your abs into shape.

SIDE PLANK

Why it works: This abs exercise is more challenging than a traditional plank because you're supporting your entire body weight on two points of contact instead of four. As a result, you must work your core harder to stay stabilized.

How to do it:
A. Lie on your left side with your elbow directly beneath your shoulder and legs stacked. Place your right hand on your left shoulder or on your right hip.

B. Brace your abs and lift your hips off the floor until you're balancing on your forearm and feet so that your body forms a diagonal line. Hold for 30 to 45 seconds. If you can’t hold that long, stay up as long as you can and then repeat until you’ve held for 30 seconds total. Switch sides and repeat.

WALKOUT FROM PUSHUP POSITION 

Why it works: This abs exercise involves full-body movement, such as the arms and legs, while incorporating resistance to strengthen your entire core.

How to do it:
A. Start in pushup position with hands two inches wider than your shoulders.

B. Walk hands out as far as possible, then walk back. Do 10-12 reps.

Why it works: This abs exercise uses your entire core to keep your body stabilized and burns additional calories by adding movement (dragging yourself along the floor). It mixes cardio, stability, and strength training to get you fast results.

Alligator Drag

(* You tube has some great videos of how to do this one)

How to do it:
A. Find a stretch of floor that allows you to go forward 10 to 20 yards, and grab anything that will slide over the surface with minimal friction. Dinner plates or plastic bags work on a carpeted floor, while towels work on wood or tile.

B. Start in pushup position with your feet on the slides, towels, or plates.

C. Walk yourself forward with your hands to the end of your runway (aim for at least 10 yards). Rest for 60 to 90 seconds (or as long as you need to recover) and repeat the alligator walk back to where you started. That’s one set. Repeat one more time.

I realize that some of these AB exercises might be beyond your ability (for now!) If they are, do a google search for Beginner Ab exercises and find something more appropriate for your abilities. We must always start where we are to journey to where we want to be.

For every day that you do some type of plank exercise (modify if necessary) this week you earn 5 daily bonus challenge points. Happy abbing ladies and I hope you all continue to carry on with this simple but powerful exercise. 

Vitamin D - the sunshine vitamin

 

Missing out on the "sunshine vitamin” (Vitamin D) has consequences for more than just bone health. In a retrospective study of patients tested for COVID-19, researchers at the University of Chicago Medicine found an association between vitamin D deficiency and the likelihood of becoming infected with the coronavirus.

“Vitamin D is important to the function of the immune system and vitamin D supplements have previously been shown to lower the risk of viral respiratory tract infections,” said David Meltzer, MD, PhD, Chief of Hospital Medicine at U Chicago Medicine and lead author of the study. “Our statistical analysis suggests this may be true for the COVID-19 infection.”

Half of Americans are deficient in Vitamin D, with much higher rates seen in African Americans, Hispanics and individuals living in areas like Chicago where it is difficult to get enough sun exposure in winter.“Understanding whether treating Vitamin D deficiency changes COVID-19 risk could be of great importance locally, nationally and globally,” Meltzer said. “Vitamin D is inexpensive, generally very safe to take, and can be widely scaled.”

September brings the end of summer in the northern hemisphere and, for many of us, that means less time in the sun. The sun's rays provide ultraviolet B (UVB) energy, and the skin uses it to start making vitamin D.

Vitamin D is known for its importance in bone health and would be essential if it did nothing else. But researchers have discovered that it's active in many tissues and cells besides bone and controls an enormous number of genes, including some associated with cancers, autoimmune disease, and infection. Hardly a month goes by without news about the risks of vitamin D deficiency or about a potential role for the vitamin in warding off diseases, including breast cancer, multiple sclerosis, and even schizophrenia. In June 2008, a study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine found that low blood levels of vitamin D were associated with a doubled risk of death overall and from cardiovascular causes in women and men (average age 62) referred to a cardiac center for coronary angiography.

 At a scientific meeting in May 2008, Canadian researchers reported that vitamin D deficiency was linked to poorer outcomes in women with breast cancer.

One of the few randomized trials testing the effect of vitamin D supplements on cancer outcomes, postmenopausal women who took 1,100 international units (IU) of vitamin D plus 1,400 to 1,500 milligrams of calcium per day reduced their risk of developing non-skin cancers by 77% after four years, compared with a placebo and the same dose of calcium. The evidence is so compelling that some experts already recommend at least 800 to 1,000 IU of vitamin D per day for adults.

Latitude and vitamin D production in the skin Except during the summer months, the skin makes little if any vitamin D from the sun at latitudes above 37 degrees north (in the United States, the shaded region in the map) or below 37 degrees south of the equator. People who live in these areas are at relatively greater risk for vitamin D deficiency.

In search of vitamin D

Under the right circumstances, 10 to 15 minutes of sun on the arms and legs a few times a week can generate nearly all the vitamin D we need. Unfortunately, the "right circumstances" are elusive: the season, the altitude, the time of day, where you live, cloud cover, how much clothing you are wearing, and even pollution affect the amount of UVB that reaches your skin. What's more, your skin's production of vitamin D is influenced by age (people ages 65 and over generate only one-fourth as much as people in their 20s do), skin color (African Americans have, on average, about half as much vitamin D in their blood as white Americans), sunscreen use (though experts don't all agree on the extent to which sunscreen interferes with sun-related vitamin D production) and genetic abnormalities (my 23 and me test shows an inability of my body to convert sunshine into Vitamin D).

Lack of sun exposure would be less of a problem if diet provided adequate vitamin D. But there aren't many vitamin D–rich foods (see chart, below), and you need to eat a lot of them to get 800 to 1,000 IU per day. People who have trouble absorbing dietary fat — such as those with Crohn's disease or celiac disease — can't get enough vitamin D from diet no matter how much they eat (vitamin D requires some dietary fat in the gut for absorption). And people with liver and kidney disease are often deficient in vitamin D, because these organs are required to make the active form of the vitamin, whether it comes from the sun or from food.

Selected food sources of vitamin D
Food	Vitamin D (IU*)
Salmon, 3.5 ounces	360
Mackerel, 3.5 ounces	345
Tuna, canned, 3.5 ounces	200
Orange juice, fortified, 8 ounces	100
Milk, fortified, 8 ounces	98
Breakfast cereals, fortified, 1 serving	40–100

For these and other reasons, a surprising number of Americans — more than 50% of women and men ages 65 and older in North America — are vitamin D–deficient, according to a consensus workshop held in 2006. Growing awareness of vitamin D's benefits coupled with the risk of vitamin D deficiency has led some experts to recommend a blood test that assesses the amount of vitamin D in the body. The test measures the concentration of 25-hydroxy vitamin D3 in the body to vitamin D. You might want to ask your doctor about the test.

Deficiency is generally defined as a blood level less than 20 nanograms per milliliter, or 20 ng/mL (see chart). Levels that low have been linked to poor bone density, falls, fractures, cancer, immune dysfunction, cardiovascular disease, and hypertension. Many experts recommend a level of at least 32 and suggest that 800 to 1,000 IU of vitamin D per day is required to maintain that level.

Unless you live in the South and spend a fair amount of time outdoors, or you like eating lots of fatty fish and vitamin D–fortified foods, supplements are the easiest way to make sure you're getting 800 to 1,000 IU per day. (Higher doses may be prescribed if you've been diagnosed with vitamin D deficiency.)

Here is my favorite Vitamin D supplement (recommended by my MD/Naturopath) 

Also here is a free APP you can play around with as you work on getting sufficient Vitamin D to bless your health.

I’m not going to tell you exactly what to do for our weekly bonus challenge other than to say “Safeguard your health by making a daily effort to get enough Vitamin D.” Some ideas you might choose to try:

1. Purchase a Vitamin D supplement and take daily
2. Make sure to spend some time out doors in the sunshine each day wearing a bathing suit or shorts and a t-shirt
3. Keep a daily tally of Vitamin D supplied by the foods you eat (unfortunately Myfitnesspal cannot be set to track Vitamin D for you)
4. Add in one Vitamin D rich food to your daily diet each day this week
5. Have your health care provider order a Vitamin D test.

So you choose your strategy for getting more Vitamin D. Share it with your partner and work on it daily this week for 5 daily bonus points 

One Thing

    

    We have never taken part in a healthy living competition during such unsure times. And perhaps never have we as a community worried more about our health as we face the possibility of us or loved ones getting Covid.

    It was a coincidence that for me personally a strong vow to focus more effort on my health at the beginning to the year was well under way as our Covid worries began. Over the past year I had slowly let way too much weight creep up on me and had been having a lot of knee pain. I finally went to the doctor and was totally SHOCKED to have him tell me that I had bone on bone on my right knee and increased inflammation in my other knee. I went in thinking he was going to tell me to stretch more and came out heartbroken that he advised total knee replacement in my right knee.

    While the doctor said "your weight is fine" I knew it was not. I went home and looked up my "ideal body weight" on the various charts and knew I had 40 pounds to lose to get to that magical weight. It seemed to me that if I lost the weight the pain might subside enough to not need surgery. But even if I still needed surgery the surgery would be safer and the recovery would be easier without the extra weight. 

    So January 1, 2020 I gave up sugar. Abstinence has always been easier for me than moderation so I just gave it up. My plan was to abstain from sugar until my birthday (May 31) but it went so well I continued until my son's birthday (August 12) when I enjoyed my favorite dessert- home made Pavlova with berries picked that morning. 

     OVER THOSE MONTHS I LOST 38 POUNDS AND AM 4 POUNDS FROM MY "IDEAL BODY WEIGHT"!

    Now it wasn't just the sugar of course. Somehow forgoing sugar made it easier to keep focused overall, enter all of my food on myfitnespal.com and make healthier choices in all areas. 

    I don't share this story to try to talk you into giving up sugar for several months (in fact it would bless your health more to learn to MODERATE those foods that tempt you to overindulge rather than abstain) but I share this story to invite you to think about your ONE THING. 

    What one thing could you do that would best bless your health? We will have more specific challenges during the other weeks of this competition but I want you to really ponder today what one thing that you may have been putting off and choose that for this week's Bonus Challenge. 

It might be:

1. Schedule a mammogram, colonoscopy or yearly physical.

2. Stop drinking soda or cut down to using it as an occasional treat

3. Eat greens daily

4. Go to bed earlier

5. Meditate daily

6. Pack a home made lunch the night before

7. Take your daily supplements every day (Vitamin D seems to ward off Covid)

8. Start weighing and measuring all of your foods to help with moderation 

9. Measure your drinking water and insure you get enough water daily

10. Stretch daily 

So our Bonus challenge for this week is to make a big effort toward the one thing that would most bless your health. If it is a one time event like purchasing a piece of home work-out equipment or scheduling a doctor's appointment you earn the 35 points as you complete that one thing. If it is a daily thing like meditating or drinking water you earn 5 bonus points for each day you complete the task you choose. I hope that you will continue to work on this one thing for the rest of 2020!

Of course I realize that what you choose for your personal 1 thing might be repeated later as a group weekly bonus challenge. That's just fine- we can help you continue the habit. But I just want you to own your personal stewardship over your body this week and ponder (and even pray) about what one thing would most bless your health and then DO IT!

I'm still not sure about knee surgery. My knees hurt much much less and I'm able to do at least as much as my friends that have had the surgery. But every time I am walking upstairs or long distances carrying my 30 pound grand daughter I can't believe I ever carried that weight on my poor knees every minute of every day. 

*And if you get a chance I would love it if you e-mail me what you chose as your one thing! 

Support can be the key to success

Welcome aboard ladies. This blog is where you will come each week to find our weekly bonus challenge. I am hopeful that these weekly challenges will encourage you to form new habits and perhaps even some you will continue in the future.

Our challenge this week is to determine how to best be a support to our partner. We all start off motivated and wanting to make daily healthy choices. But it's so easy to get distracted or become discouraged and let those plans fall by the wayside. One reason we compete in this healthy living challenge with a partner is because the support and encouragement of a partner can make the difference in success or failure. 

Please touch base with your partner and find out what kind of daily support you can be to each other. It might be:

1. Doing your daily exercise together

2. Making your myfitnespal account public so you can view each other's food and exercise entires and cheer each other on

3. Sharing ideas and recipes for healthy meals

4. Sending a text or e-mail with daily encouragement, healthy tips or even just to complain about how hard this all is. 

5. Call to chat about what is and isn't going well

So you will earn a daily 5 points and 35 for the week if you find some way to encourage your partner each day to get on track with all of our healthy habits.