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Finally the “Apples Season” has begun! I don’t know about you, but I love apples. Every type of apples! When I lived in NY, during this season, there was a small market on Wednesday morning near City Hall, with delicious and appealing apples and, obviously, since it was on my way I always stopped by.

We all know the famous sentence: “Eating an apple a day, keeps the doctor away” and I guess it’s true! Apples have many positive characteristics: they contain soluble fiber which reduces intestinal disorders, they are rich of flavonoids, potassium, vitamin A and C, apples pectin helps reducing cholesterol level, and they only have 50-80 calories with no fat. In addition if this was not enough, they are also tasty, crispy, sweet and give you the impression of eating a lot without doing it (because you have to chew them for a while).

Do you know how many varieties of apples there are in the world? More or less around 7.500 types. In fact, there are so many types of apples that you could easily eat a different one each day of the week. Three years ago, my favorite apple was the Pink Lady and then I had a short but intense crush on the Honey Crisp one. Two years ago, I met the love of my life: the Fuji apple…very reliable and it will never disappoint you! This year, I’ve already tried the Ingrid Marie (very popular here) and Garden Royale apples. I did not find yet my perfect match, but I have many hopes since the season just started!

I don’t know if it’s the same where you live, but here in the Netherlands (and also in the U.S), there are plenty of products made with apples. Apples purée, my usual breakfast, sold in large glass bottles or in small plastic cups, yogurts with apple and cinnamon, apple jelly, apple butter (a more concentrated types of apple sauce), apple juices, apple ciders (non-alcoholic and alcoholic ones), apple vinegar, apple chips, dried apples, toffee apples, candy and caramel apples, apples cookies and muffins, apple pies, apple crumble and much more. Seriously, if you love the combination apple and cinnamon in general you just have to move to the Netherlands!

However, even though these products contain apples as the main ingredient, some of them are not the healthier choice we can make. Nowadays, we do not only have to think about what to eat, which food/ingredients we are going to use, but also about how to eat it. Do you prefer ready to eat, frozen, fresh, dried, lyophilized foods? Which option best suits you?

Indeed, eating a small cup of apple puree it is not the same as eating a fresh apple, especially if the puree has sugars added. The majority of these products contain sugars, caramel, corn syrup or honey, and other added ingredients, which increase the calories and fat counts. So, we believe that we are making a healthy choice, but in the end we aren’t. Just read the label and the list of the ingredients before buying it!

And probably the proverb should be changed into: “eating an organic (or from a farmers market), well cleaned (or peeled) fresh apple a day, keeps the doctor away!”