Perfect Snack or Hot Weather Meal

This article is beneficial to Fibromyalgia patients, but the energy benefits described here benefit everyone.  The almonds have plenty of magnesium and the apple delivers the malic acid. Which gives low energy the one/two punch, bang zoom a trip to the moon.

This is one of my favorite snack combos; an apple and 1 ounce of almonds, and I can turn it into an evening meal by eating 3 ounces of almonds, and carrot and/or celery sticks. This combo is loaded with vitamins, but the mineral magnesium and malic acid content is what makes it an excellent choice. 

The apple is, of course, what I consider a perfect food. I eat at least one apple a day, because it really can keep the doctor away. The peel should be left as the concentration of vitamin C and malic acid is just under the peel, along with most of the soluble fiber.

I have included a couple of tables with the nutritional values for both of these foods. It is not surprising that both of these foods get huge accolades from most nutritional experts and doctors. With the low ratio of calories to nutrients they are a good clean burning powerhouse. Magnesium is an essential mineral abundant in almonds, and malic acid is an alphahydroxy acid derived from apples and other fruits which makes this snack a good energy source combination.  Read More here.

This is a low calorie, high energy snack of the kind that will stick with you for a long time.  The sugar to protein ratio will have this moving through your system at a slow, steady pace to keep the energy level high.  There won't be that crash associated with sugary snacks, and there is no sodium if you get unsalted almonds.

I want to say something here about organic apples.  I always buy organic as apples are number one on the 2012 Dirty Dozen List for the highest concentration of pesticides.  The link leads to my pinterest and article about the Dirty Dozen here.  There are huge conversations about this between health care providers, dietitians, USDA, FDA and produce farmers associations, and they can't agree on this issue.  Frankly, I don't care what any of them say.  My own intelligence tells me what I need to do, and that is buy organic when I can afford it.  Other times, I will buy conventionally grown and wash it really well with a cleaner I make myself.  Cleaner Recipe here.  I buy the ones in the bags as they are cheaper, and have less wax on them.  The wax coating is to help keep them longer, but makes it harder to clean the pestisides off them.

Nutritional Value of Unsalted Almonds 1oz Serving-Snack Size

Macronutrients

Calories 170
Protein 6 g  12% DV
Carbohydrate  6g 2% DV
--Dietary Fiber 3g 12%
----Soluble Fiber 0.057g
----Insoluble Fiber 2.436g
--Sugar 2.0g
Fat  15g  8% DV
--Cholesterol 0mg  0%
--Saturated 1.5g 8% DV
--Monounsaturated Fat  10g--This is a good fat
--Polyunsaturated Fat 3.0g--This is a good fat
Vitamins
--Vitamin E 10 IU 35% DV
--Thiamine 0.06mg 4% DV
--Riboflavin  0.22mg 4% DV
--Niacin 0.95mg 4% DV
--Vitamin B6 0.03 mg 2% DV
--Folate 17 mcg 4% DV
--Biotin 6 mcg 2% DV
Minerals
--No Sodium
--Potassium 207mg 6% DV
--Iron 1mg 6% DV
--Calcium 75mg 8% DV
--Magnesium 84mg 20% DV
--Phosphorous 147mg 14% DV
--Zinc 1mg 6% DV
--Copper 0.27mg 14% DV

 Nutritional Value of one medium Apple

One Medium 2-1/2 inch apple, fresh, raw with skin

 

Calories 80

Carbohydrate 21 grams

--Dietary Fiber 4 grams

--Sugar 16 grams approximately

Vitamins

--Vitamin C 8mg

--Vitamin A 73 IU

--Folate 4mcg

Minerals

--Calcium 10mg

--Phosphorus 10 mg

--Iron .25mg

--Potassium 159mg

 

Sources

University of Illinois Extension

USDA National Agricultural Library

 

I put this here in hopes that my children and grandchildren will want to explore my blog, and find out what good nutrition is all about. However, this is also something that I like to do just for myself, and hopefully it might help others.