As the saying goes, "An apple a day keeps the doctor away," which is enough to show that eating apples is very beneficial for the body. And for female friends, eating more apples is even more beneficial, especially during their menstrual period, eating apples in moderation can also regulate their physical health. Let's analyze the benefits of women eating apples below.
1. Can women eat apples during their period?
Can women eat apples during their period? Women can eat apples in moderation during their menstrual period. The specific reasons are as follows:
Women have lower resistance during their period, so they should eat more fresh fruits and vegetables, so it is okay to eat apples in moderation.
Apples are known as "brain fruit" and "memory fruit". People have long discovered that eating more apples can improve memory and intelligence. Apples not only contain rich sugars, vitamins, and minerals that are essential for the brain, but more importantly, they are rich in zinc. According to research, zinc is a component of many important enzymes in the human body and is a key element in promoting growth and development. Zinc is widely involved in the metabolism of proteins, fats, and sugars in the body through enzymes. Zinc is also an essential element in the formation of nucleic acids and proteins that are closely related to memory. Zinc deficiency can lead to underdevelopment of the hippocampus in the cortical border of the brain, affecting memory. Zinc is also closely related to the production of antibodies and the improvement of immune function in the body.
In addition, apples also have the effects of reducing cholesterol levels, lowering blood pressure, promoting bowel movements, and relieving diarrhea. Apples are warm fruits, so it is beneficial for women to eat apples during their period. However, if a woman has dysmenorrhea, she should not eat apples during her period, especially frozen foods, as they can exacerbate the pain.
Women lose a significant amount of blood during menstruation, especially those with excessive menstrual flow, which causes the loss of essential components of blood such as plasma proteins, iron, potassium, calcium, and magnesium. Apples contain abundant carbohydrates, vitamins, and trace elements. Vitamin A and carotene are also present in high amounts. In addition, they also contain rich water-soluble dietary fiber, pectin. Pectin has the functions of protecting the intestinal wall, activating beneficial bacteria in the intestine, regulating gastrointestinal function, absorbing water, relieving constipation, stabilizing blood sugar, beautifying the skin, adsorbing bile and cholesterol, and can effectively prevent high blood lipids, high blood pressure, high blood sugar, clean the intestines, and prevent colon cancer.
When eating apples during menstruation, it should be noted that apples should not be eaten with seafood. Apples contain tannic acid, and eating them with seafood not only reduces the nutritional value of seafood proteins but also can cause abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and other symptoms. Similarly, other fruits with high tannic acid content, such as strawberries, bayberries, persimmons, pomegranates, lemons, grapes, and grapefruits, should not be eaten with seafood.
2. Benefits of women eating apples
1. Neutralizing acid substances in the body
70% of diseases occur in women with acidic body constitution, and apples are alkaline foods that can quickly neutralize excess acid substances in the body (including acid produced during exercise and acid metabolites produced by fish, meat, eggs, and other acidic foods in the body), enhance physical strength, and improve disease resistance.
2. Preventing heart disease
Apples are rich in folic acid, which is the main component of vitamin B and helps prevent heart disease. The antioxidants in apples are beneficial to the healthy functioning of the heart. The fiber, pectin, antioxidants, and other components in apples can reduce bad cholesterol levels and increase good cholesterol levels, delaying the blockage of blood vessels by bad cholesterol. The earlier the blockage of blood vessels by bad cholesterol occurs, the greater the chance of developing heart disease.
3. Preventing osteoporosis
Apples contain boron and manganese, which can strengthen bones. A study found that boron can significantly increase the concentration of estrogen and other compounds in the blood, which can effectively prevent calcium loss.
Medical experts believe that if menopausal women can consume 3 grams of boron daily, their calcium loss rate can be reduced by 46%. Eating more apples during menopause is beneficial for calcium absorption and utilization, preventing osteoporosis.
4. Preventing strokes
Apples are not only beneficial to health but also the guardian of women's health. It is best to eat apples with the skin because the skin of apples contains a higher content of flavonoids, which have strong antioxidant activity and can prevent strokes in middle-aged and elderly women.
However, due to the use of a large number of pesticides in the cultivation of apples, if apples are not carefully washed before consumption, the fertilizers and pesticides remaining on the apple peel may cause various diseases such as leukemia. Therefore, if the "naturalness" of apples cannot be guaranteed, it is best to wash and peel them before eating.
5. Weight loss
One medium-sized apple contains only 60 to 100 calories, with no fat or sodium. For those who are trying to lose weight, apples are the best food.
In a study conducted by a university, overweight middle-aged women were divided into three groups. Each group ate a low-calorie diet and ate either three apples, three pears, or three oatmeal cookies (the dietary fiber content of the three foods was the same). After 12 weeks, it was found that women who ate apples and pears lost 1.22 kg in weight, while women who ate oatmeal cookies did not experience significant weight change.
Apples are high-fiber, low-calorie foods. Eating apples regularly can reduce hunger and calorie intake, which is helpful for weight loss.
6. Anti-cancer
After statistical analysis, it was found that compared with women of normal weight, the risk of developing cancer in overweight or obese women increased by 29% to 47%. The higher the body mass index of women, the greater the risk of developing breast cancer, colorectal cancer, endometrial cancer, and gallbladder cancer. Research suggests that being overweight or obese is a risk factor for cancer in women.
Studies have found that eating more than one apple a day can reduce the risk of developing colorectal cancer, esophageal cancer, laryngeal cancer, breast cancer, ovarian cancer, and other cancers by 9% to 42% compared to eating less than one apple a day.
In addition to containing traditional nutrients and dietary fiber, apples are also rich in flavonoids, which are natural antioxidants. Compared with other fruits, apples have a higher proportion of free flavonoids, making them easier to be absorbed by the body. These natural antioxidants can protect genetic material DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) from oxidative stress and have strong anti-cancer effects.
3. Who should not eat apples?
1. Patients with coronary heart disease, myocardial infarction, kidney disease, and diabetes should eat apples with caution.
2. Those who have symptoms of cold stomach should avoid eating raw apples.
3. Patients with leukopenia and benign prostatic hyperplasia are prone to worsen their condition or affect the treatment results.
4. Patients with ulcerative colitis: Eating raw apples is not conducive to the healing of ulcerated intestinal walls and may cause complications such as intestinal perforation, intestinal dilation, and intestinal obstruction due to mechanical action on the intestinal walls.
Friendly reminder: For the sake of health, the above-mentioned people must avoid eating apples.
