The humble apple is not so humble when it comes to health. Drinking a cup of fresh pure apple juice in the morning (make sure it’s fresh and not from concentrate) will give you a large variety of long term health benefits as well as ticking off a box for your five a day.

Apple extract has been recorded as having the second highest level of antioxidants present when compared to other typically consumed fruits. Apples contain a range of Phytochemicals which are well documented as being powerful antioxidants.

In fact apples have been shown to help reduce cholesterol, inhibit the spread of cancer cells, reduce the risk of asthma, cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

So be sure you eat your apple a day to keep the doctor away!

In order to have the right amount of fruit and vegetables per day for good health, you need to consume 80g per portion of both fruit and vegetables. It will be easier if we look at some examples:

1. Two Apples, One banana, One 80g portion of carrots, One 80g portion of Peas.

Example one consists of two portions of the same kind of fruit (Apples) so this is only FOUR of the five a day.

2. One Apple, One Banana, One Pear, One Plum, One Orange.

Example two contains only fruit. Vegetables are needed as well to make the five a day so this is at best only FOUR of your five a day.

3. One Apple, One Banana, One portion of mixed carrots, sweet corn and peas.

Example three has five different fruit and vegetables in it but does not have enough of them. In order to count as three separate portions of vegetables, the mixed vegetables would need to be at least 240g! This is therefore only THREE of your five a day.

4. One Apple, One Banana, One 80g portion of Carrots, One 80g portion of Peas, One 80g portion of Potato (Either Jacket, Chips, Mashed, Grilled, Roasted etc).

Example four has potato included which does not count as one of your five a day. Potato is a staple carbohydrate and not included in your five a day despite being a vegetable. This is therefore only FOUR of your five a day.

Just bear in mind that eating the same thing does not count as extra portions and potato in all its forms does not count as a portion at all.

Your health is important; you don’t need us to tell you that. A person’s health can affect their lifestyle, how they feel and what they can do. Likewise, a person’s lifestyle can affect their health. Health is on everyone’s lips this year as we are inundated with the dos and don’ts of health and wellbeing.

Have you had your five a day?

A shocking proportion of the population actually hasn’t, but believe in earnest that they have. The advertising for the five a day has been poor at best and the information that is most getting through is from food companies advertising their products as “One of your five a day” to cash in on this health advice. What people don’t understand is what constitutes a portion. Many believe having two or three apples, for instance, counts as three portions. This is not the case; the daily recommended amount of fruit and vegetables is based on the idea of you having five separate portions of different fruits and vegetables.

So what do you do if you need to use oil? Cooking methods like stir frying for example can be a very tricky process to try and improve on for healthier food. Some people have suggested just heating a small amount of broth in the base of your wok instead of oil. You will not be able to add the ginger straight away as it will stick to the base of the pan, but most Asian dishes will include a roughly quartered onion as prior preparation so using this as the first ingredient will help add moisture. You will then be able to add the ginger as normal.

If all else fails, there are some low calorie oil sprays you can buy instead that will at least cut down your oil intake.

Knowing the best health foods isn’t always everything you need to know when it comes to great health diet programs. Knowing what storage processes and how to cook it is also a vital part of being healthier. Obviously frying healthy foods makes them significantly less beneficial for you but there are other things you need to be aware of as well. In fact you can lose around 50 to 80% of the nutrients in your food by using conventional cooking methods. The best way to cook healthy food is to steam it. Naturally steaming foods are a great way to keeping the nutrients you need. If you are boiling your vegetables try adding some of the water you used to your gravy as quite a few nutrients will have been transferred to the water in the process and it will also add extra flavor to the gravy. These methods aren’t perfect but they can help to maintain more minerals nutrients from the food.

In reality, there are many more food stuffs out there that are great health promoters. The problem is, many of them will be prepared in an unhealthy way or stored in a way which takes most of the nutrients away. Ideally you want as many fresh foods as possible in your fridge but because they don’t last forever, frozen foods are the next best thing. Some nutrients are lost during the freezing process but they still have relatively high levels when you compare them to tinned goods. Try to avoid all tinned vegetables as much as possible. Not only will most of their nutrients have been reduced dramatically but they will also contain other ingredients such as preservatives and excess oil, salt or sugar.

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