While Johnny Appleseed is a story often told to children in school, in real life he was John Chapman, an American nurseryman who brought apple trees to the Midwest, including Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. , and was an environmentalist and early missionary days in the United States

Susan Ealy, RD, Clinical Dietitian at St. Anthony’s, said, “When apples are eaten with a variety of other fruits and vegetables, they can contribute to a healthy diet. In addition to being a tasty and easy to carry snack food, apples contain a good amount of fiber.

According to the US Department of Agriculture, an average-sized apple, including its skin, contains 4 grams of dietary fiber, or 16% of the daily value of 25 grams of fiber. Additionally, the fiber found in apples is both soluble and insoluble fiber. Soluble fiber dissolves easily in water and is broken down in the body into a gel-like substance. Insoluble fiber does not dissolve in water and remains intact as food moves through the body.

All of these attributes make apples a good, healthy food choice. Eating apples can help:

• Lower high cholesterol. Soluble fiber found in apples can help prevent cholesterol from building up in the walls of blood vessels, thereby reducing the incidence of atherosclerosis (which restricts blood flow in the arteries due to the build-up of plaque) and heart disease.

• Helps digestion. Both soluble fiber and insoluble fiber found in apples are important for digestion. Soluble fiber can help slow digestion so that you feel full, while also slowing the digestion of glucose, thus helping to control your blood sugar. Insoluble fiber in apples (contained mostly in the skin of the apple) can help move food through the digestive tract to help with constipation and regularity.

• Support a healthy immune system. Apples are also a good source of vitamin C, known for its immune support properties. Depending on the variety of apple, an average apple can contain 8 milligrams of vitamin C, or 8% of the daily value of 90 milligrams for adults.

• Support weight loss. Besides keeping you full due to the soluble fiber content, apples are a low calorie snack option. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, choosing a snack that is less than 100 calories will allow you to have one to two snacks per day according to most healthy diets. A medium-sized apple contains around 70 calories, while a typical candy bar contains 200.

• Helps in cancer prevention. While there is no way to completely prevent cancer, eating a diet high in fruits and vegetables, including apples, may help reduce the risk of some cancers. This is in part due to their very high level of antioxidants, which have been shown in studies to limit the growth of cancer cells, as well as their fiber content.

While the adage that “an apple a day keeps the doctor away” may not be entirely true, apples are a good, healthy food choice for all ages.

For more information on HSHS St. Anthony’s Memorial Hospital, visit the St. Anthony website at stanthonyshospital.org.