Amazing Apples

Submitted by Kristin Irace, a registered dietician01:30PM / Monday, September 20, 2021Print Story | Email Story

You're are likely familiar with apples. They are among the most popular fruits, especially this time of year, when they are fresh, crisp, and available in abundance at roadside farm stands here in the northeast. You know that they have a peel, delicious flesh, a stem, a core, and some seeds. But, here are lots of other parts of an apple that are likely less familiar to you. It's these components of the apple that make it so nutritious.

A fiber powerhouse. A medium apple has four grams of fiber. That's more than a serving of prunes! All that fiber, plus a high water content, makes apples a very satisfying food for relatively few calories. When you're hungry, reach for an apple. It won't let you down!

Plenty of vitamins. Apples contain 14 percent of the recommended daily value of vitamin C and lots of other important nutrients in small quantities, including potassium, vitamin K, manganese, copper, and vitamins A, E, B1, B2, and B6. A single apple provides so many important vitamins.

Don't forget about the phytochemicals. Phytochemicals—like polyphenols, antioxidants, and flavonoids—sound like they could be a bad thing. And with names like quercetin, catechin, chlorogenic acid, and anthocyanin they definitely seem like things you should avoid. But wait! It is these obscure components that give apples their amazing disease-fighting power. Together, they are linked to prevention of heart disease and stroke, diabetes, asthma, bone loss, dementia, and cancer.

Finally, pectin! Pectin is a type of soluble fiber. (I know. We are counting fiber twice. It's that important!) This special type of fiber feeds the good bacteria in your gut. It's a "prebiotic." Thriving gut bacteria are linked to healthy digestion, metabolism, immune response, and more.

There's only one catch. We've long known that whole foods provide the greatest health benefit, and apples are no exception. While apple juice and applesauce will provide some of the benefits touted above, you will most certainly get the greatest benefit if you eat apples from the core or sliced with the skin. That way, you get all of the satisfying fiber and water and all of the beneficial vitamins and amazing phytochemicals.

So grab an apple and enjoy all of the wonderful health benefits it provides.

Kristin Irace, RD, is a registered dietitian with Southwestern Vermont Medical Center in Bennington.

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Fall Trout Stocking in Select Lakes and Streams In Vermont

Staff Reports02:37PM / Sunday, October 11, 2026

SPRINGFIELD, Vt. — The Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department continues its new fall trout stocking program this year.

This will mark the third consecutive year that trophy-sized brook trout and rainbow trout averaging 13-14 inches will be stocked into four ponds and one stream in southern Vermont in the fall.

"We're stocking more than 2,000 one-and-a-half-year-old trout between Knapp Ponds #1 and #2 in Cavendish, Lakes Paran and Shaftsbury in Bennington, and East Creek in Rutland," said Lael Will, a fisheries biologist with the department. "This is a great opportunity for anglers to spend time fishing for some really nice stocked trout surrounded by Vermont's amazing fall foliage. And, they can continue right through the winter, catching trout in waters where late season trout fishing was not an option before."

Fish from Bennington, Roxbury and Salisbury fish culture stations will be stocked starting in mid-October to allow for some harvest before the season switches to catch and release only in November.

"Last year anglers shared with us that they loved the fall and winter opportunity created by this late season stocking," said Will. "We're excited to continue these stockings and hopefully hear from more people taking advantage of these new trout fishing opportunities."

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