Jeni and her daughter pick up bags of fresh fall apples at Stones Apple Orchard … a Quad-City (and Tackett family) tradition!

By Jeni Tackett, Let’s Move Quad Cities Nutrition Blogger

I live right down the road from a Quad-City apple orchard.

Fall is a wonderful time of year to eat more apples, and we love as a family to go apple picking!

QC apple orchards like Stones Apple Barn allow you to pick a variety of fresh apples. My husband and I have been taking our 2 children since they were little, and we still enjoy a trip to apple pick now that they are teenagers.

Are apples really as healthy as they seem? The answer is yes!

Here are 8 cool apple facts:

• Apples are high in fiber: A medium apple contains 4 grams of fiber, which is good for digestion, and helps fill you up.
• Apples are a great food for weight loss: Due to the filling fiber and the water content, having an apple as a snack is a great way to curb your appetite and help you reach your weight loss or maintenance goals.
• Apples are good for your heart: Apples contain polyphenols which can help to lower blood pressure and are a good source of soluble fiber which can help lower cholesterol levels.
• Apples don’t contain: Sodium, fat, or cholesterol.
• Apples give you vitamins: A medium apple contains 14% of your needed vitamin C for the day! Eat an apple instead of a processed snack like crackers to meet your nutrient needs.
• Apples offer variety: There are 2,500 apple varieties grown in the United States! The 10 most popular apples are: Honeycrisp, Pink lady, Cortland, Fuji, Gala, Jonagold, Golden Delicious, Red Delicious, McIntosh, and Ginger Gold. You can have a different kind of apple every day of the week!
• Our nation’s Pilgrims planted some of the first apple trees for the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and George Washington is reported to have also pruned his own apple trees as a hobby.
• Archeologists have found evidence that humans have been enjoying apples since 6500 BC!

The best way to eat an apple is with the skin on. The skin contains half of the fiber. Resist the urge to use apples just for pies and apple crisp…and eat them as they are meant to be: fresh off the tree for a crunchy, healthy treat!

Meet Jeni Tackett, Let’s Move Quad Cities Nutrition Blogger. Jeni is a registered and licensed dietitian for Rock Valley Health. Jeni counsels her clients on weight loss and nutrition. You can read Jeni’s bio and other blog posts by clicking here.