HIMPower Magazine HimPower October 2018 | Page 19

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 bene- fits. 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. 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. A recent study followed participants eating daily apples or pears versus another group eating oat cookies with the same total calories and fiber. The apple group lost weight. The cookie group gained. So my advice is – skip the cookie and have that apple a day. 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 www.himpowermagazine.com  19