I try to subscribe to the “an apple a day keeps the doctor away” theory, and eat one most days. Not just to keep the doctor away, but also because I don’t eat enough fruits or veggies so I try to get myself into the habit of having one about mid-afternoon. Usually they’re very good- just the right amount of crunch as I bite into it, good flavor.
Occasionally I’ll get one that’s either a little mushy and too sweet or really firm, like it feels as if I’m biting into wax fruit, and flavor is kind of bland (like the one I’m currently working on). Part of me wants to toss it, but another part of me figures there might still be some health benefit to finishing it, so suck it up and eat it.
So what’s the dope?
You’ll still get pretty much all of the health benifits but why bother? Just toss it and eat another apple or eat 2 the next day. It sounds like your buying Red Delicious apples which are certainly red but very iffy on the delicious part. Red Delicious were pretty much bred so that they could be stored for up to a year in a warehouse without degradation which means that their flavour and texture is often very off. Try a different type of apple and you should get less dud ones.
I’ve rarely had a Granny Smith disappoint. Those are nice and tart.
I try and eat fruit on a daily basis – quite a bit of it, in fact, as I will usually stop in to my local supermarket before work and pick up a fresh fruit bowl and a couple of bananas. (Bananas are a good high-density, low-calorie fruit that are particularly high in potassium) The fruit bowls tend to be varying of quality – there’s particularly large variations in the taste and texture in the canteloupe, honeydew melon, and papaya. The papaya in particular can go from being rather sweet to unbearably bitter. Either way though I’m pretty certain I’m getting all of the nutritional value out of them however they appear.
Even the ones going mushy (where the starch is turning to sugar) should still be good; it’s only when the sugars begin fermenting that it probably becomes less nutritious (and possibly harmful).
Nope, Fuji. I only bring one to work each day so if I don’t eat that one, I’m hungry the rest of the afternoon. To go out during the workday to get another apple would take me about 30 minutes, and doesn’t really seem worth the effort.