Posts Tagged ‘Apples’

Consuming White fruits and vegetables may lower stroke risk

Consuming White fruits and vegetables may lower stroke risk

Dutch researchers report shows that, fruits and vegetables whose edible sections are white may lower your risk of stroke than other fruits and vegetables. Intake of 25 grams of white fruits and vegetables per day led to a 9% decrease in the risk of stroke. According to the study, published in the November issue of Stroke, apples and pears were the most commonly consumed white fruit.

Author Linda M. Oude Greip, a postdoctoral fellow at Wageningen University in the Netherlands study said, the risk of stroke incidence was 52 percent lower for people with a high intake of white fruits and vegetables, compared to the people with a low intake.

Linda M. Oude Greip also pointed out that the findings don’t mean it’s better to stop eating other fruits and vegetables. Because other fruit and vegetable color groups may protect against other chronic diseases, she stressed. She said past research has shown that higher fruit and vegetable consumption can lower the risk of stroke. But none of that research looked at specific fruits and vegetables to see if any contributed more to the reduced risk than the others.

She used data collected by the National Institute of Public Health and the Environment of the Netherlands that included more than 20,000 people. Study participants were between the ages of 20 and 65 at the start of the study, and none showed any signs of cardiovascular disease. All of the study volunteers completed a 178-item food frequency survey. The study then included 10 years of follow-up information on the participants’ health. During the follow-up period, 233 people had a stroke.

The only group that was associated with a significant decrease in stroke risk was white fruits and vegetables. Oude Greip said it’s not clear what components in white fruit might be protective for stroke, but she believes that the dietary fiber and the flavonoids play a role, where apples and pears are high in a flavonoid called quercetin.

Shapiro also pointed out; it’s difficult to single out what it is about white fruits that might reduce the risk of stroke. It’s really the whole foods. She said that she wouldn’t recommend limiting your diet to just white fruits and veggies. She added, “Eat the rainbow of fruits and vegetables”. It provides certain nutrients that combine and interplay with others.

Read about stroke prevention: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke

Popularity: 1% [?]

Fruit of the month : Apple

Apples
Serving size 1 medium (154g)

Amounts Per Serving % Daily Value
Calories 80
Calories from Fat 0 0
Total Fat 0g 0%
Saturated Fat 0g 0%
Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Sodium 0mg 0%
Total Carbohydrate 22g 7%
Dietary Fiber 5g 18%
Sugars 16g
Protein 0g
Vitamin A 2%
Vitamin C 8%
Calcium 0%
Iron 2%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.


The Apples can be traced back to the Romans and Egyptians who introduced them to Britain and finally to America. Today, Americans eat about 120 apples apiece each year. At least 50% of the domestic crop is used in items we use every day such as, applesauce, juice, jellies, pies and other popular desserts.

Selection
Choose apples that are firm with no soft spots. Avoid apples that are discolored for their variety.

Storage
Keep apples in plastic bags in the refrigerator after purchasing to prevent further ripening. Apples should keep up to six weeks. However, check apples often and remove any apples that begin to decay or the others will do the same.

Preparation
Wash apples well with soap and rinse with water. Prepare apple dishes just before serving to minimize browning (oxidation). Protect cut apples from oxidation by dipping them into a solution of one part citrus juice and three parts water.

Varieties
There are about 2500 known varieties grown in the US. Thirty-six states grow them commercially with the following as top producers, WA, NY, MI, CA, PA, & VA. 56%of the 1999 crop was eaten as fresh fruit and 42% was processed.

  • Braeburn
  • Golden & Red Delicious
  • Fuji
  • Gala
  • Jonagold
  • Rome Beauty
  • Granny Smith
  • Winesap
  • McIntosh

Popularity: 31% [?]

Hollywood’s New buzz in Fruit Addiction

There has been some recent buzz in Hollywood about so-called “strawberry cocaine.” TMZ did some crack study and got the low down on the blow.

Flavored cocaine is not anything new, we’re told. Law enforcement basis tell us that since the 80s people have been trade coke in all sorts of flavors, as well as rum and cherry, and now it appears strawberry are back and all the rage.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ, which strawberry flavoring is additional to the drug to give it its fruity flavor. Years ago just adding food coloring was big thing– brown and also red cocaine was the talk of the town. Theoretically, you can make or add any flavor you’d like to the drug.

Popularity: 10% [?]

Study: Fruits, Vegetables Help Lower Cancer Risk

When it is a matter of beating breast cancer, a recent study in the Journal of the American Medical Association found women who eat less fat and more fiber from fruits and vegetables could lower cancer risk at least 9%. A separate study of fruit and vegetable intake in both smokers and even non-smokers by researchers at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center had similar results for lung cancer. Nutrition researcher Debra Kummels said it is likely all of us could benefit from just meeting the recommended minimum nutritional guidelines. “Get your 5 a day if you’re a child, 7 a day if you’re a woman, and 9 a day if you’re a man.” with 9 Servings? That is a lot, so let’s take a second and show you what that really looks like:

A typical salad might give you both of those servings, but that means you’d still need to add at least one orange, a cup of raw broccoli, 20 grapes, a whole artichoke, 1/2 cup of cranberry juice, several large asparagus spears and two handfuls of berries (especially blueberries). “They (blueberries) have the highest anti-oxidants of any fruit,” Debra said.

Antioxidants and photochemical are the natural cancer fighting compounds in these foods that is why it is recommended that you don’t just get 5-9 each day, but also 4 different colors. Dietitians recognize the minimum amount of fruits and vegetables people should get every day could be hard for many people. They say fruit juice is just another way to meet the goals and a large apple could count as two servings.

Popularity: 4% [?]

Apples

Apples are rlatively indifferent to soil conditions and will grow in a wide range of pH values andlevels. They do require some protection from thewind and should not be plantin low areas hat are prone to late spring frosts. Apples do require good draiage, and heavy oils or flat and should be tilled to and consolidators, the event would also be participated in by major food manufacturers, producers, suppliers, cooks and culinry experts. During the past two editions of Ifex, the region was represented by member-companies of the Soccsksargen Federation of Fishing Associations and Allied Industries Inc. and the Region 12 Fruit Industry Development Council, Inc. Guiamadel said the two groups and various local government units (LGUs) in the region vowed to present a wider array of quality food products.

Growers with old orchard blocks of single cultivars sometimes provide bouquets of crab apple blossoms in drums or pails in the orchard for pollenizers. Home growers with a single tree, and no other cltivars in the neighbourhood can do the same on a smaller scale.Hesaid some of the LGUs who signified to join the food expo would present products that are related to theirchosen banner product under the government’s One own, One Product or OTOP program. The city’s tuna value-added products, which are produced mainly by micro, small and medium enterprises, have emerged as among th region’s newest export winners with its present market now worth over US$11 million.

Several local producers of tuna sausage, embutido, tocino, fish balls and other processed products recently started to enter the huge Chinese food market.
Symptoms of inadequate pollination are excessive fruit drop (when marble sized), small and misshapen apples, slowness to ripen, and low seed count. Well pollinated apples are the best quality, andwill have 7 to 10 seeds. Apples having less than 3 seeds will usallynot mature and will drop from the trees in the early summer. Inadequate pollinationcan result from ether a lack of pollinators or pollenizers, or from poor pollinating weather at flowering time. It generally requires multiple bee visits to deliver sufficient grains of pollen to accomplish complete pollination.

A common problem is a late frost that destroys the delicate outer structures of the flower. It is best to plant apples on a slope for airdrainage, but not on a south facinslope (in te northern hemisphere) as this will encourage early flowering and increase susceptibility to frost. If the frost is not too severe, the tree can be wetted wih water spray before the morning sn hits the flowers, and it may save them. Frost damage can be evaluated 24 hours after the frost. If the pistil has turned black, the flower is ruined and will not produce fruit.

Apples are self-incompatible and must be cross-pollinated to develop fruit. Pollination management is an important component of apple culture. Before planting, it is , viab nd compatible pollen. Orchard blocks may alternate rows of compatile cultivars, or may ave periodic crabapple trees, o grafted-on limbs of crab apple. Some cultivars poduce ery little pollen, or the pollen is sterile, so these are not good pollenizers. Quality nurseries have polenizer compatibility lists.

During the flowering each season, apple growers usually provide pollinators to carry the pollen. Honeybee hives are most ommonly used, and arrangements may be made with a who supplies orchards. Home growers may find these more acceptable in suburbanlocations other solitary bees may help. umble bee queens are sometimes present in orchards, but not usually in enough quantity to be significant pollinators.
Growing apples near a body of water can give an advantage by slowing spring warm up, which retards flowering until frost is less likely. In some areas of Ontario, and around some smaller lakes, this cooling effect ofproblems with fungal diseases, notably apple scab; many of the most important apple-growing regions (e.g. northern China, central Turkey, and eastern Wngton in the USA) have climates more like the species’ native region well away from the sea or any lakes, with cold winters leading to a short, but warm spring with low risk of frost.

Home growers may not have a body of water to help, but can utilise north slopes or other geographical features to retard spring flowering. Apples (or any fruit) planted on a south facing slope in te northern hemisphere (or north facing in the southern hemisphere), will flower early and be particularly vulnerable to spring frost.

Apples are prone to biennial bearing. If thevery little flower the following year. Good thinning helps even out the cyle, so that a reasonable crop can be grown every y
orchardists practice chemical thinning, which is not practical for home fruit. Appl bear in groups of five (or more rarely six) blossoms. The first blossom to open is called the king bloom. Itwill produce the best possible apple of the five. If it sets, it tends to suppress setting of the other blooms, which, if they set anyway, should be removed. The nxt three blossoms tend to bloom and set simultaineousy, therefore there is no dominance. All but one of these should be thinned for best quality. If the final blossom is the only one that sets, the crop will not be as good, but it will help reduce excessive woody growth (suckering) that usually happens when there is no crop.

Popularity: 34% [?]