Medical App & Medical Advice with Hello Doctor

Tag: fruit

Two recipes that will transform the way you see apples

August 9th, 2019 by Content Editor

An apple is the super ingredient you never knew you needed in your dishes. Let’s look at some nutritious, tasty apple-inspired recipes.

Smoky apple, sage and chickpea veggie burgers

Chickpea is a popular vegetable in the vegan community. Why? Because it can transform an otherwise light meal into one that is hearty and wholesome. Throw in some vitamin-boosting apple and you’re in for a treat. Here is a must-try burger to dazzle your supper time.

Ingredients

  • 1 3/4 cups cooked chickpeas, drained and rinsed.
  • 1 cup of breadcrumbs.
  • ÂĽ cup chickpea flour.
  • 1 small onion, quartered.
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced.
  • 3 tbsps soy sauce.
  • 2 tbsps apple cider vinegar.
  • 1 tbsp smoked paprika.
  • 2 tsps rubbed sage.
  • 1 tsp dried thyme.
  • 1 tsp black pepper.
  • 1 medium apple, peeled and shredded (choose a sweet variety like Gala).
  • 1 tbsp olive oil.

For serving:

  • 6 wholewheat burger rolls, bagels or English muffins, sliced open.
  • Sauce of your choice.
  • Fresh greens (lettuce/ baby spinach).

Method

  • Place the chickpeas, breadcrumbs, chickpea flour, onion, garlic, soy sauce, cider vinegar, smoked paprika, rubbed sage, thyme, and black pepper into a food processor.
  • Pulse until ingredients are well-mixed. Add shredded apple and pulse again just until mixed.
  • Transfer the mixture to a sealed container and chill for an hour or overnight.
  • Preheat the oven to 400°C and line a baking sheet with baking paper. Shape the chickpea mixture into 6 patties. Brush the tops and bottoms with olive oil.
  • Bake for 30 minutes, flipping about halfway through.
  • Place into rolls, or English muffins and serve with toppings of your choice.

Broccoli apple salad

Apples and broccoli on one plate may sound strange, but together they make a mean, green healthy and nutritious salad machine!

Ingredients

  • 4 cups of small diced broccoli florets.
  • 2 small gala apples, cored and diced.
  • 1 cup walnuts.
  • 1 cup matchstick carrots, roughly chopped.
  • ½ cup golden raisins or dried cranberries.
  • ÂĽ cup chopped red onion.

Dressing

  • 3/4 cup plain Greek yoghurt.
  • 1/3 cup low fat mayonnaise.
  • 1 1/2 tbsp apple cider vinegar.
  • 3 tbsps honey.
  • Salt.

Method

For the dressing:

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together Greek yoghurt, mayonnaise, vinegar, honey and season with salt to taste (about 1/4 tsp). Chill until ready to use.

For the salad:

In a salad bowl, toss together broccoli, apples, walnuts, carrots, raisins or cranberries and red onion. Pour in dressing and toss until evenly coated.

References:

5 fruits to add to your diet today

August 2nd, 2019 by The Hello Doctor Team

Whether you’re after a healthy snack or an immune boost, humble fruit has you covered. But with such a huge variety, which fruit should you be snacking on? Let’s suss out some of the healthiest fruits around.

Grapefruit

There’s a reason why grapefruit is a staple breakfast food around the world. It’s a healthy citrus fruit packed with essential vitamins and minerals. Grapefruit is particularly high in vitamins A, C and E, all of which help to keep your immune system in check. Studies have also shown that grapefruit may help in lowering insulin resistance, regulating cholesterol levels and preventing kidney stones.

How to eat it: Slice it up or cut it in half and eat with a spoon. If you don’t have time to munch, you can sip it too. Juice some nourishing grapefruit and drink it throughout the day to stay hydrated. If it’s too bitter, top with a natural sweetener like honey.

Blueberries

When it comes to super fruits, blueberries are serious contenders. This powerful fruit is filled with fibre, vitamins C, K and manganese. What makes blueberries special though, is that it’s packed with antioxidants which play an important role in lowering your risk of viral infections and heart disease.

How to eat it: Eat them fresh or frozen, in handfuls. You could also bake them into healthy muffins and breads or sprinkle them on your yoghurt at breakfast.

Apples

The saying “an apple a day keeps the doctor away” is there for a reason. They are loaded with Vitamin C, potassium and lots of fibre. They also have B vitamins which prevent infections, boosts brain health and gives you energy. Pectin, a compound found in the skin, helps keep your tummy healthy.

How to eat it: Enjoy sliced apples with peanut butter spread. You could also eat them roasted as a dessert on a chilly day or add a few slices to your muesli at breakfast. Fresh, whole apples make an easily portable snack.

Pomegranate

Unlike most fruits, it’s the sweet seeds of the fruit that is eaten, since the outer part of the fruit is inedible. Pomegranate is lauded for its nutritional benefits which include powerful anti-inflammatory properties and high levels of antioxidants. Furthermore, studies have shown that it may lower blood pressure levels over time.

How to eat it: Cut the fruit down the middle. Hold it over a bowl and firmly hit the pomegranate skin with the back of a wooden spoon. Fill the bowl with water to separate the seeds from each other. Strain the seeds. You can eat them as is, sprinkled over salads or even in rice or couscous for a sweet bite.

Avocado

While most fruit is high in sugar, nutritious avocado is packed with healthy fats. These healthy fats help you stay fuller for longer, reduce inflammation in the body and promote heart health. Avos also contain lots of fibre, and potassium which can keep your blood pressure in a healthy range.

How to eat it: Spread it on toast or eat it sliced with sprinkles of salt and pepper. You can also add it to salads, or have it grilled with squeezed lemon juice and seasoning.

References:

Are some fruits healthier than others?

August 9th, 2018 by The Hello Doctor Team

When it comes to the dessert menu, you’re better off with a fruit salad, but while fruits are nutrient-dense snacks, sugar is sugar. Even natural forms of sugar in fruit, can still send your blood-sugar level soaring as much as a triple chocolate mousse!

Here’s a handy guide to get your sugar fixed in the healthiest way possible:

Low-, medium- and high-sugar fruits

All fruits have zero cholesterol and saturated fats, and are low in sodium, keeping your blood pressure balanced. Therefore, the only baddie on your fruit platter or sosatie is sugar. Here is the low-down from your healthiest, to your sweetest options available:

Low sugar content: Blackberries, raspberries, lemon and limes.

Medium sugar content: Peaches, pears, melons, apples, nectarines, apricots, oranges and naartjies.

Highest sugar content: mangoes, pawpaw, grapes, bananas and pineapples.

The good thing about all fruit is that they contain fibre, which keeps you regular while you feed your sweet tooth. Fruit are packed with nutrients too:

  • Purple and red fruits are high in antioxidants
  • Citrus fruits give an immune-boosting punch with Vitamin C
  • Avocados (yes, they are fruit!) contain heart-healthy unsaturated fats.
  • Orange fruit, like apricots, are high in Vitamin A.

How much sugar is too much?

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that adults limit their total sugar intake to 5% of their total daily calorie intake. That’s around 30g, or six teaspoons of sugar, a day, and includes all sugars. Low-sugar fruits typically have one or fewer teaspoons of sugar per 100g.

Which fruit is best?

Medium-sugar and low-sugar fruit ease the mid-afternoon craving, while high-fibre fruit get a constipated tummy back to work. Hydrating fruit, like watermelons, keep you cool and full on a hot summer day, while high-sugar fruit like bananas are useful for a quick energy boost.

Work out how many grams per 100g of a fruit is sugar. Five grams is around one teaspoon of sugar; any more and you want to add a generous helping of dietary fibre, fat or protein, to smooth out the sugar high. The WHO’s recommended daily allowance for fibre is 25g, 44 to 78g for fat and for protein, 0.8g per kilogram body weight.

  • Lemons and limes are the stars of the low-sugar show with less than 5g per fruit. They also score high on nutrient value, with 74% and 48% of the daily recommended dose of Vitamin C respectively. Their sour taste makes them hard to swallow, so drizzle the juice over a fruit or vegetable salad. An added bonus: acids slow down the release of sugars, staving off a crash.
  • Raspberries, with less than a teaspoon of sugar and almost two teaspoons of dietary fibre, plus 48% of the RDA of Vitamin C in just 100g, are a great choice to add to some full-fat, sugar-free yogurt.
  • Blackberries are low in sugar, high in fibre and pack a Vitamin C punch; 38% of your daily allowance.
  • Avocados stand out with high fibre and low sugar values. It’s also a source of healthy fat, making it a perfect snack to tide you through to supper.
  • Budget options – apples, pears, oranges and naartjies – are good for your pocket and waistline.

If you’re trying to ease hunger, very high-sugar fruits are a no-no. There aren’t many fruits you should avoid, but make sure you lean towards the medium- and low-sugar options. Add fat, protein, more fibre or acids like lemon or lime juice can help avoid sugar-crashes.

References

Fruit each day keeps disease at bay

December 19th, 2013 by The Hello Doctor Team

The old saying “an apple a day, keeps the doctor away” might have some basis to it, especially if you’re over the age of 50. Researchers from Oxford University assume that eating an apple a day could prevent up to 8 500 heart attack and stroke related deaths in the UK each year. As we get older, particularly if you’re older than 50, the risk of cardiovascular disease increases, which makes this research very important. The only hiccup is that the assumptions are calculated from a scientific model and not a study.

Continue reading “Fruit each day keeps disease at bay”

Road trips, picnics and beach snacks – the healthy way

December 15th, 2013 by The Hello Doctor Team

These holidays, you don’t need to spend a fortune on pricey and fatty snacks from garage pit stops when you’re on the road. And likewise, when it comes to picnics and beach snacks, there are plenty of tasty and healthy alternatives to the traditional soggy sandwich!

Here are our top suggestions, let us know what you pack to eat for a day on the beach, a picnic or road trip.

Continue reading “Road trips, picnics and beach snacks – the healthy way”

Hello Doctor Services Terms & Conditions

Hello Doctor is part of Momentum Health Solutions (Pty) Limited, a subsidiary of Momentum Metropolitan Holdings Limited.

Legal and Compliance Security and Fraud Terms and Conditions Access to information Privacy Policy