Raw apples tend to have a strange effect on my tummy. They do for lots of people. I will literally eat a raw apple and 20 minutes later feel ravenous with the hunger! Not an ideal result from eating food. Stewed apples however have been something my tummy has liked since I ate my first apple pie! :) Stewing apples, as with cooking many foods increases their digestibility. 

More than half of the fibre found in apples is in the skin.

When preparing this bowl I recommend you use a tart eating apple. Something green and crisp as the sugar content will be lower. Avoid using bramley apples. These apples are so acidic you'll want to add sugar to them. Simply wash the fruit and use organic if you can to avoid peeling away so much fibre. The only difference in a cooked apple versus a raw apple is that there is less vitamin C in a cooked apple. However, this vitamin is prominent in so may vegetables and fruits one can tolerate raw that I don't worry about stewing it out of the apples.

Buckwheat is an incredible source of fibre along with being a great source of antioxidants and magnesium which relaxes blood vessels, improving blood flow and nutrient delivery while lowering blood pressure.

When researchers looked at how much fibre 35,972 participants in the UK Women's Cohort Study ate, they found a diet rich in fibre from whole grains, such as buckwheat, and fruit offered significant protection against breast cancer for pre-menopausal women. (Cade JE, Burley VJ, et al., International Journal of Epidemiology).

Fibre supplied by whole grains offered the most protection. Pre-menopausal women eating the most whole grain fibre (at least 13 g/day) had a 41% reduced risk of breast cancer, compared to those with the lowest whole grain fibre intake (4 g or less per day).

Safe to say this is a good breakfast for women and overall good gut health.

Ingredients

• 2 medium sized apples, washed and cut into small chunks
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 handful of buckwheat groats
• 1 tbsp chia seeds
• 1 tbsp ground hazelnuts
• Natural bio-live yoghurt to serve

Method

1. Chuck the apple chunks into a saucepan with a couple tablespoons of water and the vanilla extract and stew down to your preferred consistency.
2. In a small pan/frying pan dry toast the buckwheat groats until they go a light brown colour. This should take a max of 2 minutes.
3. When the apples are ready chuck them into your jar to go or a bowl if you've given yourself some "you time" in the morning. :)
4. Layer your buckwheat groats, hazelnuts and chia seeds on top followed by the final layer of yoghurt.
5. If you'd rather it tasted sweeter add a teaspoon of hazelnut spread, fresh berries or a couple of dates chopped up.