An apple a day keeps the doctor away...but why?

What happens when you eat an APPLE? 

We know they are good for us.

We know they have lots of vitamin C.

We know they have these things called ANTIOXIDANTS.

But what really is so great about them?

You may be surprised to learn that not only do they have one or two vitamins and antioxidants, but according to T. Colin Campbell, author of the China Study and his newest book, Whole, the humble apple has over one thousand (1,000) phyto chemicals.  

 His research has supported other studies on how the genes are effected by what has been identified as ‘epigenes’.  The epigenes work on top of the gene to effect the gene either positively or negatively depending on what nutrients or toxins are acting upon the gene at any particular moment.

Therefore, when the gene at the cellular level has the many food nutrients available in these minute phytochemical* amounts the cell is in an environment to repair itself. Thousands of different metabolic activities occur at the cellular level.  

Consider this fact: 300,000,000 million cells are dying and being replaced every minute in a cellular repair or healing function.  When they do not have the nourishing foods needed for repair (phytochemicals) but instead have a deficiency of nutrients and or worse are exposed to toxins (another topic) they mutate.

If this is true of the humble apple it follows that all WHOLE foods eaten in their simplest state have the same miraculous actions in our body. We can see the various world wide variations in food types (ethnic foods) and can be assured that they all have what the body needs to be healthy.

The take away message is as Drs. Colin T Campbell, Joel Fuhrman, and Adiel Teloren advise to eat your foods in their WHOLE fresh state, locally grown if possible, and seasonally with a minimum amount  of processing.  And try not to get too hung up on 'organic'. According to Dr Fuhrman studies done connecting pesticide effects in humans were done when DDT was commonly used in agriculture and prior to 1972 and though it is no longer used on foods it is found in the environment as it is taken up by fish and shellfish and other animal flesh that we consume. It better to eat the fresh vegetables and fruits after proper washing and know you are benefiting from all the good chemicals they contain whether organic or not. By limiting the foods that may have levels of DDT you are choosing wisely. Keep in mind that it makes little sense to worry about contaminated foods and then have pesticidal sprays used abundantly around us. 

*phyto-chemical = micro-nutrients found in fresh vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds. These chemicals are much smaller than the macro-nutrients, carbohydrates, fats, proteins and all the vitamins we get in our daily vitamin pill.  Recent research has discovered at least 12,000 of these nutrients in natural unprocessed Whole plant foods. These compounds work synergistically at the cellular level in ways we are still learning about.