more healthful

“There is some research that suggests that they're more nutritious for us, that they're riper and have evolved into a more healthful product because they've been allowed to grow in their natural environment for you know the length of their growing season,” Beitchman said.

In fact, neuroimaging studies show the brains of children who eat more processed snack foods are smaller in volume, particularly in the frontal cortices, than those of children who eat a more healthful diet.

Her attempts at more healthful eating were also thwarted by the temptation of junk food in the house that her younger siblings, who do not have obesity, love to eat.

While eating an apple a day won't necessarily cut down substantially on prescription medications or doctors visits, it could be one step in the direction of making the transition to eating more healthful, fiber-filled, whole foods.

As scientists learn more about the gut biome and its relationship to disease, they're also starting to figure out ways to impact the gut biome's composition to produce different and more healthful, outcomes.