daily. You can find formulas that combine
it with boswellia and other ingredients for
joint pain, with resveratrol and green tea
for cellular health concerns, or simply on its
own for just about
everything else.
9. APPLE
There’s a lot
of truth to the old
saying, “an apple
a day keeps the
doctor away.” It
would be tough
to find a more perfect portable snack that
provides so many benefits. In fact, just by
adding one serving of apples per day, you
can reduce your risk of pancreatic cancer by
25%.
But there are even more reasons to eat
apples – weight loss, heart health, reduced
risk of diabetes and asthma, cancer and
Alzheimer’s prevention, and increased bone
density – to name a few. A lot of people
figure they can get around eating apples by
just drinking juice instead – but one recent
study actually found an increased risk of
colon cancer associated with regular intake
of fruit juice.
There are some identifiable components
in apples that make them so healthy. They
are quercetin, phloridzin, and fiber.
Quercetin is a bioflavonoid antioxidant.
One of its many benefits is that it reduces or
delays the absorption of sugar and carbohy-
drates, which helps to curb the appetite and
reduce binge eating.
28 HimPower April 2018
Phloridzin, like quercetin, has similar
effects on the glucose receptor sites, but
it also burns fat and controls blood sugar
levels. In fact, phloridzin helps to release
stored fatty acids
from fat cells by as
much as 44% more
than just exercise
alone.
10. GRAPES
Grapes (Vitis
vinifera) are
another nutri-
ent-packed fruit. As with most fruits, and as
I mentioned in the section about red wines,
the skins of grapes are loaded with valuable
nutrients, including resveratrol and other
health-supporting polyphenols and oligo-
meric proanthocyanidins (mostly known as
OPCs).
OPCs are the precursor to anthocyanins
– the strong antioxidants that give red, blue,
and purple fruits and vegetables their anti-
oxidant power. These powerful components
protect cells from oxidative stress, and have
been researched for tumor inhibition, liver
detoxification, reduced blood platelet aggre-
gation (keeping blood vessels from becoming
clotted), and muscle health in athletes. In
fact, in one double-blind study, the nutri-
ents in a whole grape extract increased
muscle endurance by 24%. Aside from those
kinds of immediate physical results, OPC’s
from grapes have also been shown to have
protective antioxidant effects in the brain,
supporting focus and cognitive health.