As mentioned in a post in 2012, I started eating a low-carb, grain-free, sugar-free, and starch-free diet in 2011 to reduce inflammation. Ironically, I followed a copy of the diet from researchers at Cleveland Clinic that I received from an integrative medicine doctor. Inflammation is a huge factor in diabetes, heart disease, and countless other medical conditions.
However, the damage to my arteries was already done from years of eating a high-carb, low-fat diet. There was nothing I could do to reverse it. But, perhaps I could slow down the progression. My blood sugar was high then, and insulin injections were the next step. Diabetes and heart disease were the cause of death of many of the family members on my mother’s side of the family. If I reduced my blood sugar, I felt I could live longer. I am now the matriarch of the family.
When I started this diet, I tried eating various fruits to see which raised my blood sugar, testing my blood with a test kit. In our old lives, every day before I changed my diet, I ate one Honeycrisp apple, my favorite fruit. When I ate the apple on an empty stomach, my blood sugar rose as much as if I’d eaten a candy bar.
When I discovered this, I called the University of Minnesota Landscape Arboretum across the lake from us to see if I could speak to Jim Luby, the scientist mentioned below, who developed the apple, about how much sugar is in one Honeycrisp apple. He was delighted to share the information with me.
A few hours after we talked, he called me back, explaining that one Honeycrisp apple contained the equivalent of 9 teaspoons of sugar. I was shocked it was this much. Looking online, I discovered that a single can of Coke contains 9.75 teaspoons of sugar.
Some people can eat fruit without colossal blood sugar spikes since the fiber may offset some of the response to the sugar, but I am not one of those people. Thus, my story today is about the Honeycrisp apple, which I dearly miss, having stopped eating it 13 years ago. My way of eating prevents me from needing diabetic medication.
When Tom stumbled across the following article on one of his Minnesota history sites, he sent it to me, prompting today’s story. In any case, if you can eat apples freely, these have always been my favorite. Before we left Minnesota, it cost $1 per apple at Cub Foods. I treated myself to one Honeycrisp apple daily as a midday snack each week. My mouth waters when I think of it. No wonder…sugar tastes good.
From Kare11 News in Minneapolis, here’s the article:
The man behind the iconic Honeycrisp apple retires, passing the torch to a former student.
VICTORIA, Minn. — The man behind Minnesota’s favorite apple has decided to call it a career.
This summer, Jim Luby retired after a 40-plus-year career in apple breeding at the University of Minnesota’s Horticultural Research Center. During his career, Luby and his team created some of the tastiest apples in the country, including SweeTango, Zestar!, and their biggest success, Honeycrisp.
Luby is now passing the torch to a new generation of apple breeders led by one of his former students.
“It’s a little overwhelming,” Matt Clark said. “It’s a lot to take in.”
Clark enrolled in the master’s program at the University of Minnesota’s Applied Plant Science program in 2009. He received his degree a year later and started working on his PhD. That’s when he developed a strong appreciation for apple breeding.
“I did my PhD in the fruit-breeding lab. I studied, actually, Honeycrisp. I had an opportunity to take a deep dive into why Honeycrisp has this special gene and to be part of the legacy of Honeycrisp in Minnesota,” Clark said.
After graduation, Clark joined the department as an associate professor in their grape-breeding department to develop new wine grapes that can survive in Minnesota winters. In late 2023, Clark was asked if he would be willing to transition to Apple and take over for his former professor.
“Jim is an exceptional scientist and a wonderful person, and there are some big shoes to fill,” Clark said.
Yes, some big shoes indeed, but also an iconic apple to live up to.
“Honeycrisp was our gem. It still is, and we use it a lot in breeding, and what we’ve realized is our competition is too, because of that excellent quality, the crispiness. So, we have to step up our game to compete with everybody using Honeycrisp as a parent,” Clark said.
Clark said almost every apple they’re developing is somehow connected to Honeycrisp.
“Honeycrisp was either the grandparent, maybe even great-grandparent, or maybe even the parent to many of the apples we work with,” Clark said.
Every year, the research team plants hundreds of seeds, each slightly different. If the seed grows into a tree that can survive a Minnesota winter, the apples return to the taste test.
“It can’t taste bad, it can’t be bitter or astringent, but it might be a little tart, might be a little sweet, might have some interesting flavors, but if it’s not crisp and juicy like Honeycrisp or SweeTango, there’s no way it’s going to end up in our cooler,” Clark said.
The apples that show enough qualities to earn a spot in their cooler are then tested to see how long they can survive on the shelf.
“If they can only survive for a month and a half, then we kick them out,” Clark explained.
Very few apples meet their strict quality, taste, and shelf-life standards.
Clark said the research team usually tests out more than 10,000 combinations before finding one new variety that is good enough to release to the public.
“Apple breeding is a long-term investment,” he said. “20-ish years to develop a new variety.”
Clark said the next great apple may grow in their orchard, but he understands that discoveries take time.
“I’m not looking to retire any time soon, but if I’m here in 25 years, at the end of my career, we’re hoping to have more success stories on which we can look back.”
We are all different, and our bodies respond in various ways to foods and environmental influences. May we all strive to achieve the best possible health outcomes through good choices suitable for our personal makeup and health considerations.
Be well.
Photo from ten years ago today, September 12, 2014:
