How About Them Apples?

Autumn’s cool weather and beautiful foliage is a call from nature to get outside, enjoy the scenery, and get physically active. One great event for fun family fitness is visiting the Apple Festival at UBC’s Botanical Garden in October. Bonus: children under 12 are free! Here’s what you need to know about apples so you can act like a sophisticated farmer at the festival.

Apples are one of the top three commonly consumed fruits in North America, along with bananas and oranges. Now, I generally recommend branching out of these three major players, but apples do deserve a spot in your diet, especially at this time of year! 

Apples are powerhouses of flavonoids, as well as a great source of cholesterol-lowering phytosterols. They’re also a good source of vitamin C, beta-carotene, and lutein, all of which are antioxidants, which protect our bodies against cell damage. In addition, apples with skins are one of the best-known sources of pectin—a type of soluble fiber shown to help reduce cholesterol.

There’s some talk that the Pink Lady variety has the highest level of antioxidant flavonoids but the bottom line is - all apples are good apples, as with any other fruit and its better to have one than none. So grab your favorite apple and enjoy it on its own or grated in muesli.

Happy Fall and see you at the Apple Festival!  

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Find this article in the Queen's Park Preschool October Newsletter