A bagel with peanut butter is a popular snack that’s considered “healthy”. But both bagels and peanut butter are acidifying, even if you use whole-grain bagels and natural peanut butter.
“Savers” already know that acidifying foods are not off-limits, but it’s convenient to find a healthful, pH-balanced alternative that’s good for your bones. Besides, adding some variety is important to get bone-healthy nutrients and to experience new tastes.
In today’s post, I give you a delicious, bone-boosting recipe for a “bagel” snack that’s pH-balanced and good for your bones. Instead of a grain-based bagel, this round snack uses apple slices as the base and builds up from there with delicious bone-healthy ingredients.
Apples – Not Just for Autumn
Here in the Northern Hemisphere, it is mid-summer – not the time of year that most associate with apple dishes. But did you know that some apples are harvested in the summer? Gala and McIntosh are two well-known examples; Paula Red, Aunt Rachel, Lodi, and Ginger Gold are some more obscure varieties that ripen in summer. This is a small example of the more than 7,500 known apple cultivars grown today!
The apple is one of the most widely-cultivated fruits in the world, and for good reason – apples are very nutritious, flavorful, and versatile in the kitchen. Interestingly, the apple originated in Central Asia and did not find its way to America until the days of the European colonists. Today, the United States is the second-largest producer of apples in the world.
Unfortunately, apples have made the EWG’s Dirty Dozen list, so try as much as possible to get the organic kind.
Apples are Packed with Nutrients Year ’Round
Regardless of the time of year, apples are healthful and adaptable to all kinds of recipes. They are easily eaten out of hand, making them a perfect snack; but they can also shine in classic recipes like apple cobbler and pie.
Apples are a Foundation Food in the Osteoporosis Reversal Program, because they contain such a wealth of nutrients that are good for your bones. This crisp, alkalizing fruit is an excellent source of:
- Vitamin C* – important in the production of collagen, and functions as an antioxidant
- Silicon (Silica)* – also essential for collagen production, and impacts the growth and mineralization of bone
- Fiber – helps move toxins out of the body, sparing the liver from toxic overload
- Trace minerals, such as Boron* – involved in bone metabolism and works in conjunction with Vitamin D to reduce calcium excretion
- Antioxidants – crucial for bone health
*Foundation Supplement
An entire chapter (Chapter 12) of the Osteoporosis Reversal Program is devoted to explaining how oxidation damages your bones and how antioxidants help prevent the damage. Antioxidants protect your bone cells from oxidative damage, and some antioxidants actually increase the production of osteoblasts (bone-building cells).
Apples contain a unique combination of antioxidants – both polyphenols and flavonoids – which gives them a nutritional edge over other fruits.
Now on to the Apple “Bagel” Snack Recipe
You can use trail mix, chocolate chips, coconut, or chopped nuts as a topping for your Apple “Bagel”. But I like these “bagels” best with the Lawrence of Arabia Cereal, which is one of the many pH-balanced recipes in the Recipe Sampler that’s included as part of the Osteoporosis Reversal Program.
In the Recipe Sampler you’ll find delicious bone-smart recipes for breakfast, lunch and dinner. There are even some handy recipes for “breakfast on-the-go”.
To make the Lawrence of Arabia Cereal, simply mix together the following ingredients:
- 1 cup rolled oats
- ½ cup sesame seeds
- ½ cup chopped almonds or pecans
- ½ cup chopped dates
And below is the recipe for the…
Bone-Healthy Apple “Bagels”
Ingredients:
- 1 medium apple, preferably organic
- 1 ½ tablespoons unsweetened almond butter
- Raw, preferably organic honey to taste (optional)
- ½ cup Lawrence of Arabia Cereal
Directions:
- Mix the almond butter and honey in a small bowl; place the cereal in a shallow dish.
- Slice the apple crosswise into ¼-inch slices.
- Using an apple corer or small cookie cutter, cut out the core, stem, and blossom end out of the slices.
- Pat the slices dry and spread them with the almond butter-honey mixture. Then push the slices gently into the cereal, almond butter side down.
Enjoy!
You May Also Like These Related Articles:
Studies Reveal Relationship Between Fruit And Vegetable Intake And Mental Wellbeing- Save Our Bones Bulletin: Protein (And Coffee Or Tea) Linked To Fracture Risk; A New (Possibly Better) Way To Assess Bone Health; Study Finds Doctors Don’t Listen To Patients
- The 2023 Dirty Dozen and Clean 15 : Your Guide to Safely Navigating the Produce Aisle
Studies Reveal Relationship Between Fruit And Vegetable Intake And Mental Wellbeing
Save Our Bones Bulletin: Protein (And Coffee Or Tea) Linked To Fracture Risk; A New (Possibly Better) Way To Assess Bone Health; Study Finds Doctors Don’t Listen To Patients
The 2023 Dirty Dozen and Clean 15 : Your Guide to Safely Navigating the Produce AisleComments on this article are closed.
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I recently suffered from 2 compression fx L5/6. I have had continuing degeneration in my lower spine post a iinjury in 2001. In my desascan I am sti havin gloss in spine but hips are good . No loss. I am working with mind body as meditation restorative yoga and accupuncture. I have had a marked relief of my pain. But now I know I have to work with diet and weights. Anyone have succes stories?
Halley
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Halley, you might enjoy reading the inspiring testimonials on this website! Here is a link:
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Hi! Vivian,
Can You Get Good Almond Butter Already Made In A Health-Food Store?
The Apple Bagels Sound Delicious. Can You Get Them Already Made In A Health-Food Store Also?Thank You Very Much Again For All Your Wonderful Articles.
LOVE, LESLIE (MS. L. CARMEL)
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I wonder just how much the food we eat affects our bones. Until fairly recently I ate an apple every day, ate plenty of vegetables, seldom ate sugary dessert, drank milk, ate cheese, got plenty of exercise doing chores and gardening, etc., etc. But I have so many spinal compression fractures, the doctor calls them “too numerous to count.” What I did not eat much of is meat, preferring chicken, fish and turkey, and not much of that. The women I know who have strong bones and no sign of osteopenia are and always have been big meat eaters.
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the recipe sounds really good, athough I was wondering, you’re using almonds and pecans interchangeable in the recipe, but aren’t pecans acidic and almonds alkaline?
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Thanks for the recipe. On another note, what do you think of Osteoseal, organic herbal calcium which costs $17.99, less than half the price of Trueosteo?
https://organicindiausa.com/content/Osteoseal.pdf -
I am a 56 year old female, diagnosed a year ago with osteoporosis in spine, (osteopenia in hips) and have been following Densercise exercise program and working on eating a more alkaline diet. I was recently diagnosed with Hashimoto’s disease (a form of hypothyroidism) but in my research on thyroid issues I read from several sources that I should avoid many of the vegetables that I’ve been eating for bone health, including broccoli, cabbage, kale, cauliflower, spinach, among many others. So now I’m feeling discouraged and overwhelmed about diet. This news sure doesn’t leave me many options. Any insight you might have into managing these two conditions with diet would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
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Mary Anne, this very topic was addressed in Question #5 of this Q&A post:
https://saveourbones.com/vivian-answers-day-19/
There are still many kinds of delicious, bone-healthy foods you can eat. 🙂
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I have just read that the best water to drink is purified or filtered, and NOT to drink distilled because it is acidic.
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I am an 82 year old male. I have a slight curvature of the spine which I have been able to maintain with exercise and an awareness to do the best I can in keeping my head up and shoulders back. I will appreciate your knowledge on this issue. Thank you!
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Thanks,
Shula
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I have bought “save our bones program” a few months ago,but right around the same time, I started having knee problem (osteoarthritis), and I am not able to do most of the exercises mentioned in this book. But I gained a lot of knowledge and I eat even healthier than before and now I know my bone thieves too. I do take all the supplements mentioned in the book, more or less. I hope by my next Dexa scan my osteoporosis would be better. Will keep u guys posted.
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Interestingly, Shahnaz, most arthritis is caused and/or aggravated by an accumulation of acid in the body. The Osteoporosis Reversal Program is intended to correct this imbalance! What’s good for osteoporosis tends to be good for arthritis as well. 🙂
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When I found out the calories in a bagel that was the end of bagels for me. Then I found out that peanuts are not nuts, so I bought almond butter instead. Of course the store brand kind was loaded with high fruitose corn syrup, or soy which makes it something we should learn how to make at home. Or find a place that sells it without all the Monsanto byproducts in the jar.
Any recipes for making our own almond butter? It really is better tasting than peanut butter.
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I’ve made small amounts of almond butter in my Bullet blender. I just use raw almonds and add a little almond oil to make it more spreadable, otherwise it is very crumbly and won’t stick to your bread or apple.
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Almond butter is delicious! Do you have a health food store? There are several natural and organic brands with nothing but almonds.
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I did find raw almond butter. The only ingredient in it is almonds! The others were roasted almonds which cuts the benefits of eating almonds.
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YUMMMMM! Sounds delish. I have a half of an apple everyday and was looking for another way to make it interesting. This is a great option. Thanks!!
Sorry, an apple is NO substitute for a bagel! Maybe a recipe using millet flour?