Celeb Trainer Harley Pasternak: Apple has many Health Benefits

Harley Pasternak is one of the popular celebrity trainer and nutrition expert.

He has worked with Halle Berry, Lady Gaga, Robert Pattinson and Robert Downey Jr. He has written books that became best-sellers such as The Body Reset and The 5-Factor Diet.

There are many amazing health benefits of apple and Pasternak has some recipes in which the basic ingredient is apple.

Here are some of the top health benefits of apple according to Medical News Today:

• Prevent dementia
• Reduce risk of stroke
• Lower levels of bad cholesterol
• Reduce the risk of diabetes
• Ward off breast cancer

Pasternak has shared to People some of his recipes. Here are two of the three recipes he shared.

Healthy Waldorf Chicken Salad
Serves 1-2

¼ cup chopped walnuts
¼ cup non-fat plain Greek yogurt (more if you like a creamier salad)
1 tbsp. lemon juice
½ cup celery, sliced
½ cup red seedless grapes, sliced
1 cup chicken breast, cooked, cooled and chopped
1 large apple, unpeeled, cored and chopped (I like Gala for this recipe)
Salt and pepper, to taste

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Arrange chopped walnuts evenly on a cooking sheet and bake for about 5 minutes, checking often (remove from oven early if nuts begin to look too toasted). Leave to cool.

3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the Greek yogurt and and lemon juice. Mix in the walnuts, celery, grapes, chicken and apple. Add salt and pepper to taste, then serve on a bed of lettuce or scoop into half of a whole-wheat pita.

Apple Pie Smoothie
Serves 1

5 raw almonds, whole or chopped
1 red apple, unpeeled, cored and chopped
1 small banana, frozen and cut into chunks
¾ cup non-fat plain Greek yogurt
½ cup non-fat milk
½ tsp. ground cinnamon or apple pie spice (mixture of cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice, to taste)

1. In a blender or food processer, blend the almonds until finely ground. (If your blender isn't powerful enough to grind almonds, you can use chopped almonds or even almond meal instead.)

2. Add the apple, banana, yogurt, milk and spice. Blend until smoothie reaches desired consistency.