An Apple a Day? What Fruit Can and Can’t Do for Our Bones, apples and bone health

My son has a problem.

He has apples. Lots and lots of apples. 🍎

Far too many to simply sit in a fruit bowl and hope somebody gets through them before they start going soft, or we can preserve baking apples for pies crumbles or just freeze..

Naturally, my first thought was that they shouldn't be wasted. Some can be eaten fresh, some dried, some stewed and some sliced and frozen ready for another day.

But while I was thinking about what to do with this mountain of apples, that old saying popped into my head:

“An apple a day keeps the doctor away.”

It made me wonder what part fruit actually plays when you are living with osteoporosis.

There is no magic apple, apples and bone health

I wish looking after our bones were as simple as eating one particular food every day.

Unfortunately, it isn't.

Apples aren't particularly high in calcium, and eating them certainly isn't going to treat osteoporosis. But that doesn't mean they don't have a place in a healthy diet.

Fruit provides vitamins, minerals, fibre and plant compounds, and apples contain vitamin C and polyphenols. Vitamin C is involved in the normal formation of collagen, which forms part of the structure of our bones.

But one apple, one vitamin or one supplement isn't the answer to bone health.

Our bones need the whole team.

Calcium matters. Vitamin D matters. Protein matters. A varied diet matters. Appropriate movement and exercise matter. And, for many people with osteoporosis, prescribed medication and reducing the risk of fractures matter enormously too.

It's the bigger picture that counts.

Making the healthier choice the easier choice

There is another side to my apple mountain that has very little to do with nutritional science and much more to do with real life.

When you live with pain or limited mobility, there are days when even simple jobs can feel like surprisingly big ones.

Peeling, coring and chopping fruit might sound like nothing.

On the wrong day, it isn't nothing.

That's why I like the idea of preparing some of these apples while I can.

I can slice and dry some for snacks. I can stew some and freeze them in small portions. Others can be peeled, sliced and frozen ready for a crumble, breakfast or dessert.

Then, on a day when I don't particularly feel like standing in the kitchen, some of the work has already been done.

I've learned that living with osteoporosis isn't always about making enormous changes.

Sometimes it's about making tomorrow a little easier.

Making the Job Easier

I have a little apple peeling machine that has become particularly useful when there are a lot of apples to prepare.

I simply put an apple onto it and turn the handle. As it turns, the machine peels, cores and slices the apple in one go.

It's a small thing, but when your hands, back or joints don't appreciate repetitive kitchen jobs, a simple gadget can make an enormous difference.

I've learned not to struggle through a task just because that's the way I've always done it. If there's a tool that makes something easier and allows me to remain independent, I'll use it.

Living with osteoporosis has involved plenty of adapting. Sometimes finding a way forward isn't about doing less.

It's simply about finding an easier way to do it.Waste less, save a little, make life easier

There's something rather satisfying about using food that might otherwise have gone to waste too.

These apples have already grown. They're sitting there waiting to be used, and they're free.

Why let them spoil when they can be turned into something useful for weeks or months to come?

Freezing and drying seasonal fruit isn't revolutionary. Generations before us did exactly the same thing.

Perhaps we've just become so accustomed to being able to buy almost anything at any time of year that we've forgotten how useful these simple habits can be.

There is something lovely about putting a little bit of one season away to enjoy in another.

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  Fresh Baking Apples for preserving

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  Peeling slicing and coring in one go

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  All peeled and ready for the pan

Looking after our bones is rarely about one big thing

If osteoporosis has taught me anything, it's that looking after ourselves isn't usually one dramatic decision.

It's lots of small ones.

What we eat.

How we move.

How we pace ourselves.

Taking medication as prescribed.

Making our homes safer.

Knowing when to push ourselves a little and when enough really is enough.

And perhaps even spending an afternoon dealing with far too many apples.

So no, I'm not going to tell you that an apple a day will keep osteoporosis away.

It won't.

But those apples can be part of a varied diet, and preparing them now means there will be something easy waiting for me another day.

Sometimes looking after ourselves starts with something as ordinary as that.

Now I just need to work out quite how many apples my son means when he says he has “loads.”

I have a horrible feeling I'm about to find out. 🍎🍎🍎

Karen Bradley-Edwards

Pen Paws Pitstops