Green Options » apples

Alkaline Eating for Better Body Chemistry, PH Levels, and Overall Health

Lucille Chi — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 18:43:11 +0000

Going to a body and nutrition expert with my husband is one of the best things we’ve done for ourselves. What was the key take away? Warning! Turn Alkaline!

Turn Alkaline? Are we magicians? Well according to biochemists we are! You can change your body chemistry with what you eat!

Chemicals have seeped into foods, air, and water, which in turn lower our system’s ability to control the chemistry of our body fluids, increasing illness and chronic disease.

The sad fact is that most food consumption in the wealthiest nations has shifted from nutritious raw foods to low nutritional value processed foods and we need to shift it back. Now that our total biological terrain is at risk, we urgently need to do some clean up by shifting our body chemistry back to the raw, organic foods it was designed to function on as we’ve evolved.

Below I’ve listed out a quick list of the good foods (alkaline) to treat your body to often…

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An Apple a Day Keeps the Doctor Away (Recipes Included)

Zachary Shahan — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 22:02:59 +0000

Apples are not only delicious and an easy snack, but also very healthy in numerous ways. What are the main benefits of eating apples? What are some great apple recipes?

Apples are a great source of dietary fiber. As a result, they are believed to reduce the risk of some cancers, they improve the functioning of the intestines, eliminate cholesterol from the digestive tract, cleanse the lungs and colon, and help to prevent and potentially cure appendicitis.

Apples are linked to a reduced risk of prostate cancer, stroke, asthma and Type 2 diabetes. Moreover, as Healing with Whole Foods reports, due to all the pectin apples contain, they can help to reduce blood cholesterol and remove toxic metals from the body such as lead and mercury. In addition, apples are also found to play a very beneficial role in cleansing the liver.

I love to eat apples with peanut butter. It’s one of my favorite breakfast combinations. But here are a couple of interesting apple recipes that go beyond my apple and peanut butter dish. Enjoy a rice casserole with apples or apple noodle pasta for lunch or dinner sometime!

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Eight Foods for Healthy Skin

Lucille Chi — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 20:33:55 +0000

As winter approaches, it’s a great time to explore ways to keep our skin hydrated and healthy during the harsh weather ahead. Here are some wonderful skin foods that will keep your face looking fresh and youthful this season:

Lemon is purifying to the body and gives a lovely glow to the skin when consumed regularly with water (it may also help the body stay regular) or tea.
Apples: Did you know that organic red delicious and granny smith apples are excellent for the skin? Scientific studies have shown them to fortify both collagen and elastin production.
Aloe is known to draw oxygen to the skin and lock it in. Aloe also has fantastic anti-inflammatory properties and it heals burns and wounds when applied topically. Aloe makes a wonderful refreshing juice that cleanses and purifies our inner systems. Regularly drinking aloe helps to keep the body hydrated, so if you drink coffee, which is known to dehydrate the skin, try drinking aloe juice to balance your system.
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Food as thy Medicine: Healing with Nature in Fall…

Lucille Chi — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 22:31:21 +0000

Here are a few known healing properties of common foods you may be tempted to enjoy at fall festivities:

Cranberries: As you may already know, cranberries are body purifiers, low in calories, have no fat and are a nice source of Vitamin C. This health blog states:

“some of the health benefits of eating cranberries:

* prevent bacteria in the bladder, kidneys and prostate
* supports optimum urinary tract health
* may prevent kidney stones
* have both antiviral and antibacterial properties

Here are some fun facts about cranberries:

* More than 85% of the weight of cranberries is water!
* Native Americans used a brewed a cranberry mixture to draw poison from arrow wounds..”

Tomatoes: Pureed, cooked, stewed, in sauce, stored as a sundried treat or marinade, lycophene rich tomatoes are super healing for the body.

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Lovin’ Fresh: Apple Dumpling Recipe

Jennie Love — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 02:07:21 +0000

Lovin’ Fresh is a series of recipes designed to showcase produce gathered from local farms or grown in my own garden.

Homemade old-fashioned apple dumplings were a thing of sheer indulgence during my childhood. We didn’t have them all that often, but when we did, it meant life was good. Truth be told though, I’d almost forgotten about them until a month or so ago, when I was eating out and saw them on the menu. Of course I ordered a dumpling for dessert, but it just wasn’t what I’d hoped it would be. The apple dumplings of my childhood were large - gianormous really - made with a whole apple brimming with cinnamon sugary delight and snuggly down in a flaky sugary crust. What I had at the restaurant was a small half apple with scant cinnamon and a dark egg-washed glossy crust around it. I knew then and there that I’d have to recreate the apple dumplings of my memory.

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Curl up in Front of the Fire with Hard Cider

Stuart Stein — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 14:03:44 +0000

To me, cider is one of those comfort foods. Reminds me of days gone by, memories almost forgotten and curling up in front of the fire with that special someone.

Hard cider is making a comeback - not that it ever went away - especially cider produced from artisans farming sustainably and producing product using the heirloom method. Just like in wine making, one must consider factors like the type of apple, the fragrance, color, clarity, and blend of tastes. Also like in wine making, the best hard ciders are a blend of juices from different fruits balancing the acidity, tannins, and aromatics.

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Apples, Apples Everywhere! And Not a Bite to Eat…? Free Food in the City!

Bryan Luukinen — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 00:17:53 +0000

Lately, I’ve been noticing food. Yes, but not in the usual places like the grocery store, farmer’s markets, produce stands, et cetera. No, I’ve been noticing food in unusual places. On the ground. Under trees. In the street.

While many people these days may think that apples, pears, plums and walnuts only come from pristine orchards in pastoral valleys, there is food among us. Right under our noses. And often, it’s going to waste.

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Farmers Market Fare

Beth Bader — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 16:27:46 +0000

It’s fall. The telltale signs have been arriving for a couple weeks now — pumpkins among the watermelons at the farmers market; the winter squashes alongside the zucchini; dwindling tomatoes; arrival of cole crops for a brief second season of greens, mostly kale and chard and heartier greens. Summer’s berries are gone, peaches are fading and the first of the apples and pears arrived.

With the temperature dropping outdoors and a crisp chill in the air, I am contemplating fall soups and a few other seasonal favorites like homemade applesauce.

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Lovin’ Fresh: Apple Dumplings

Jennie Love — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 17:30:56 +0000

Lovin’ Fresh is a series of recipes
designed to showcase produce gathered
from local farms or grown in my own garden.

I love cooking with my mom. She’s got all this amazing know-how that you just don’t find in cookbooks. And she has a couple of recipes that I don’t dare mess with on my own. I’m talking about those childhood favorites that never taste the same when you attempt to recreate them yourself as an adult. For starters, I rarely make mac & cheese on my own.

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Avoiding the Dirty Dozen: How to Afford Organic Produce

Colleen Patrick-Goudreau — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 21:09:09 +0000

In the vegan cooking classes I teach and the outreach I do, I am often asked how to incorporate "organic" food into our diets without breaking the bank. Since I rarely have a simple answer, I usually start off by saying what I think is a really important thing to keep

Keep in mind that the typical consumer is NOT paying the true cost of food. The meat, dairy, and egg industries, in particular, enjoy many government subsidies, which keep the cost of these unhealthful products artificially low. The same goes for produce laden with chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Also, organic fruits and veggies are usually not grown on an industrial scale, so efficiencies aren’t as great. Also, as pointed out in a recent article on the subject, "there are also significant costs involved in switching farmland from nonorganic to organic status. And there’s a lot more manual labor involved, such as weeding by hand."

So it’s not that organic is expensive; it’s the non-organic is cheap.

I’m always struck by the fact that so many people think organically grown food is some new-fangled, trendy idea. To grow plant foods with the least amount of chemicals as possible is to return to a time before industrical agriculture. Supporting local farmers is a very old ideal. As consumers, we should be shocked that an apple from clear across the world costs less than an apple grown a few hours from our home. When you go to a farmer’s market and buy directly from that farmer, you’re paying the true cost of that food.

Buying local and organic is the best thing you can do for so many reasons. First of all, the taste is absolutely superior, because the fruits and vegetables are grown with flavor in mind. When you buy produce that has been shipped in from all over the world, that produce is grown not with taste and flavor as the first priority but rather the ability to withstand the long shipments and sit on the shelf for long periods of time.

Also, when you purchase local produce, you’re purchasing produce that is seasonal - grown according to the climate of the region in which you live. And seasonal veggies are generally cheaper than purchasing out of season fruits and vegetables. But cost doesn’t refer only to dollars. As with the health costs that comes from eating an animal-based diet, there are also environmental costs, and when you buy locally at a farmer’s market or through something like Community Supported Agriculture, it means you’re paying for food that was driven down from a couple hours away as opposed to shipped from thousands of miles away. That’s a huge savings in terms of the resources required to get that food to your table – resources that include oil and electricity.

In terms of organic produce, when you purchase organic, you’re supporting a growing system that works with the Earth rather than against it. You’re paying for sustainable growing methods that enrich rather than deplete the soil. When you purchase out-of-season produce that was shipped in from other countries, there concerns about food safety, as well. The growing standards in other countries may not be the same as those in the U.S. or more specifically as high as those of the farmers you can talk to at the markets. I mean you can find out exactly how they grow their food, and in many cases you can also visit the farm yourself.

Having said all this, as we adjust to paying the true cost of food, it’s helpful to know which fruits and vegetables are the most highly sprayed so we can make informed decisions when we simply cannot purchase organic. Certain produce, termed the "Dirty Dozen" by the Environmental Working Group, is so highly sprayed with toxic chemicals that, many experts recommend eating them only when they’re organic. These include:

Apples
Cherries
Grapes, imported (Chili)
Nectarines
Peaches
Pears
Raspberries
Strawberries
Bell peppers
Celery
Potatoes
Spinach

The U.S. Department of Agriculture found that even after washing, some fruits and vegetables consistently carry much higher levels of pesticide residue than others. The produce you can get away with purchasing as non-organic includes:

Bananas (though I do recommend purchasing "Fair Trade" bananas)
Kiwi
Mangos
Papaya
Pineapples
Asparagus
Avocado
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Corn
Onions
Peas

When I have the opportunity, I do tend to purchase many of these as organic anyway, mainly because I shop at farmer’s markets and also because I want to support local, organic farmers. But it’s helpful to have this list on hand (or in your memory) to help you make the best choices possible.

To make it even easier for you, the Environmental Working Group has a handy little guide called Pesticides in Produce that you can either download from their website Food News, or order a wallet-size version of to keep with you at all times.