A Bone-Healthy Bagel?

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!