3 Amazing Apple Recipes For Weight Loss

[If you just want to try our apple recipes, feel free to skip straight to them!]

While you don't have to eat an apple a day, it wouldn't be so terrible of an idea either, because apples are one of the most popular and most nutritious fruits around. Over 240 million bushels of apples of 200 different varieties are grown in the US annually by 7,500 different producers, placing them behind only China and the European Union in terms of apple producers!

While Australia isn't as quite as big of an apple producer, ranking at about 35, Australians actually consume slightly more apples per person yearly than Americans do: They consume around 8.5kg (18.7 lbs) of fresh apples per person per year, while Americans consume about 8 kg (7.7 lbs).

One medium apple will provide you with 3/4 of your two cup daily recommended intake for fruit. It will also contain only 95 calories and 25 grams of carbohydrates, while being incredibly low in sodium, fat, and cholesterol.

Apples also contain fourteen percent of your recommended daily intake (RDI) of Vitamin C, six percent of your daily value of potassium, and five percent of your recommended Vitamin K. An apple will also provide you with two to four percent of your RDI for the minerals manganese and copper and the vitamins A, E, B1, B2, and B6.

Apples also seem to be a weight loss superfood. For one thing, they are high in water as well as fiber, making them both more hydrating and more filling than other foods with a similar carbohydrate content.

Evidence also suggests that the dietary fiber and polyphenols in apples can help encourage the growth of healthy gut bacteria, and that a particular soluble fiber they contain called pectin acts as a prebiotic that may enhance satiety. One study showed that people who ate apple slices before a meal felt fuller and ate 200 calories less during their meal than a control group.

Women assigned to eat three apples a day were also found to have lost more weight than those assigned to eat an oat cookie with a similar calorie and fiber content, and intake of apple juice or apple pomate has been linked with increased fat loss in mice. Another human study also found that consuming a beverage containing apple polyphenols seemed to help overweight subjects reduce their amount of dangerous abdominal fat.

A group of woman instructed to eat an apple a day also lost an average of 3.3 pounds despite not being instructed to change their diet in any other way. They also experienced a 23 percent decrease in their levels of LDL (bad) cholesterol and a 4 percent increase in their level of HDL (good) cholesterol. Other studies suggest that apples may even be as effective at lowering cholesterol as statins!

Multiple studies have also linked apple consumption with a decreased risk of stroke, and other research suggests that eating more apples may likewise reduce your risk of diabetes, aortic aneurysms, cancer, and asthma.

Studies also suggest that apples can help protect against the oxidative stress-induced neurotoxicity that can contribute to Alzheimer's disease, which they do by preserving your brain's levels of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine.

Additionally, an antioxidant found in apples called quercetin can decrease allergic reactions and improve your overall immune functioning, while other apple compounds chlorogenic acid and catechin seem able to help protect your body the damage normally caused by NSAIDs.

Both human and animal studies have also suggested that apple intake can help protect your bones and enable your body to hold onto calcium. If you're still not convinced, another study showed that higher apple intake lowered womens' risk of both all cause and cancer-specific mortality.

One of the few downsides of frequent apple-eating is that their high acid content may damage your teeth. You can reduce your risk by eating your apples quickly rather than chewing on them for extended periods, or by eating them in dehydrated form as in our "apple chip" recipe below.

You should also note that some varieties of apple are higher in nutrients and antioxidants than others; some particularly nutritious variations include "Pink Lady," "Red Delicious," and "Granny Smith."

Also, if you're wary about apple-eating because you've heard there can be cyanide in the seeds, don't be. While there are indeed trace amounts of cyanide present in apple seeds, it would take the ingestion of 150 crushed seeds to produce a toxic effect in the average adult, an amount you wouldn't reach unless you ingested the seeds of 18 apples! Since apple seeds also contain protein and fiber, throwing them out might even be a mistake!

For the best quality apples, look for fruit that is firm and heavy, and that has skin free of bruises, cuts, or soft spots. Additionally, though apples can be stored at room temperature, they will ripen much more slowly if they are stored in the refrigerator.

Finally, try not to throw away your apple peel, since much of the fiber, flavonoids, and antioxidants in apples are found there. Also, if you slice into an apple but don't end up using the whole thing, pouring a little lemon juice on it should stop it from browning.

Apples are a great option for pairing with protein in salads and other savory dishes, as exemplified in the Roasted Beef and Apple Kabob recipe below. It also doesn't take sugar to turn an already-sweet apple into an even sweeter snack; use just some complementary spices and a pinch of stevia in these Apple Chip and Applesauce recipes and you should be good to go!

For more apple-y fun, you can check out our low-calorie recipes for apples with caramel sauce, apple cookies,and even a healthy apple martini! Plus, on days when you don't feel up to eating a whole apple, you could always get a dose of apple's amazing nutrients from a serving or so of apple cider vinegar!