Super foods: Five reasons why you should be eating the humble apple

Beautiful apple print by Kendell Hillegas

We all remember the old adage "An apple a day keeps the doctor away" but these days the humble apple has been somewhat forgotten, competing with super-foods such as seaweed, chia seeds, blueberries, spirulina and acai berries. Yet the apple has a whole host of benefits making it a super food in it's very own right!

1. Apples are high in antioxidants which help fight the free radicals from chemicals, smoking & pollution that can damage our bodies and particularly our skin.

2. Apples can actually help reduce tooth decay, although that's no excuse not to pick up your toothbrush!

3. Apples are high in fibre which is good for your digestive system as well as stabilsing your glucose levels. Fibre helps clear your colon too meaning apples are good for IBS sufferers.

4. Apples are recommended for their detoxification properties.

5. Red apples contain quercetin which helps boost your immune system, particularly useful at this time of year!

Eat to beat colds this winter

For me winter (ahem, autumn) snuck up and caught me by surprise, I've had a full on horrible cold for over a week now, although usually I don't get colds...

Why?

I eat to beat them that's why!

I am a huge fan of garlic, adding it to virtually anything I cook at any availability. A Spanish friend of mine told me that her grandmother swears by eating a clove of garlic every day. Yep, she eats a clove a day, not counting what she has in her dinner! The same lady moisturises with olive oil but I have to admit to not having tried that yet ;) Garlic is a powerful antioxidant with antimicrobial, antiviral and antibiotic properties as well as containing vitamin C. Garlic contains allicin, a powerful antibacterial, which is released when you crush raw garlic so it looks as though her grandma is right! If you can't stand the thought of eating raw garlic wikiHow has an alternative method here which may be easier to swallow... {geddit??! ha ha}

Honey is an antioxidant and has antimicrobial properties and being so smooth makes the perfect sore throat remedy, particularly when added to ginger, lemon, hot water and/or cinnamon.

Boosting your vitamin C if you are prone to colds or have a week immune system is a good idea during the colder months but you're not just limited to reaching for the orange juice. Chilli peppers, bell peppers, dark leafy greens such as kale, kiwi, broccoli, lemons & strawberries are all high in vitamin C, just don't forget to add iron to your diet too as iron is needed for your body to absorb extra vitamin C. If you're vegetarian then dark leafy vegetables are a great way of boosting your iron levels... try spinach, it's so versatile & I love it!

How do you evade the nasty cold?