The almighty apple is always named as a great anywhere, anytime snack. Low in calories and high in fiber, you just can't go wrong with apples, say the nutrition experts at RealAge, especially if you want to lose weight.

Get your apple slicer ready -- you'll want to prepare a plate full of apple slices before your meals as you battle the bulge. Eating a bit of high-fiber food -- aha, the apple -- before each meal is a sure weight loss booster. That's what researchers say. In a study of women who ate fruit before meals and women who didn't, the fruit group lost more weight, even when following the same reduced-calorie diet as their non-fruit counterparts. Make sure you choose a fruit high in water content for best results -- like, yes, the apple.

And as you grab for that slicer, leave your peeler tucked away. If you skin your apple, you'll be losing some pretty good stuff, like cancer-fighting compounds called triterpenoids.

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Kinda yes. Kinda no. Dr. Oz recently became worried about all of the plastic he and his family of six were using while drinking tons of bottled water. Instead, he became creative and ordered some vodka infusion jugs that are handmade from 100% recycled glass. The bottles are fairly large and quite pretty. He fills the jugs with both water and some sort of fruit slices like lemon or lime.

The jugs end up looking like a decorative piece, and because they're gorgeous...end up reminding his four children to drink lots of water. Since he's such a fan of the jugs, Dr. Oz told me he was going to give them out as gifts this year. I wonder if his buddy Oprah received one for Christmas.

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Is there any truth to the five-second rule? You know, that guiding principle we use when our food drops to the floor and we pick it right back up and eat it. As long as it hasn't been on the floor for more than five seconds, we're safe. Right?

We actually have longer than five seconds, says Anne Bernhard, assistant professor of biology at Connecticut College, whose students put this rule to the test.

Bernard and her team dropped apple slices, a wet food, and Skittles, a dry food, on a cafeteria floor -- which incidentally had been smeared with E.coli -- and then measured the results. Their conclusion: Moist foods are probably safe for 30 seconds, and dry food can stay on the ground for one minute. And that's with E.coli in the mix.

So the five-second rule appears to be legit -- if you trust this study, that is.

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I volunteered to bring cut-up fruits and veggies for my first-grader's Fall celebration on October 31. I don't want to be the mom bringing sugar cookies, a bag of fun-sized candy, or ultra-sweet juice. I want to be the mom who entices kids with nutritious options. Can I do it? Joey's teacher isn't so sure. She told me today she wants to offer healthy choices for her students -- but she doesn't think many will opt for what I bring. That's OK. I'm willing to a step into uncharted territory anyway. I tend to think some of the kids may be tempted by my apple slices and grapes, my baby carrots and cherry tomatoes. Call me an optimist.

When my sister shared grapes and cookies for her daughter's preschool birthday party recently, little hands fought for the grapes -- not the cookies. Won't six-year-olds do the same? I can only hope.

What's your vote? Will Joey and his pals reach for the wholesome food, or not?