Apples - 5 Benefits for Your Health

Apples are so common that you do not even worry about whether they are really as healthy as the saying "One apple a day keeps the doctor away" suggests. At the same time apples are grossly underestimated. Super foods from all over the world seem to be better and more beneficial than the apple. But that is not the case. A fresh apple from local orchards, possibly even an old apple variety, has amazing healing effects on the organism. And if you do not like eating whole apples, then make yourself an apple juice!

Apples Reduce the Risk of Disease

Many scientific studies repeatedly confirm that a diet rich in fruits and vegetables can significantly reduce the risk of chronic illness. The reason for this preventive effect of fruits and vegetables lies in the high content of so-called phytochemicals (phytochemicals).

These include, for example, the polyphenols, flavonoids and carotenoids. In the apple it is from these groups z. Quercetin, catechin, kaempferol, hesperetin, myricetin and phloridzin - all powerful anti-oxidants with anti-inflammatory effects.

No wonder epidemiological studies always show associations between apple consumption and a reduced risk of cancer, asthma, diabetes and cardiovascular disorders. Yes, the latter substance - phloridzin - seems to protect against bone density loss, as initial studies have shown and can thus make an important contribution to the prevention of osteoporosis.

However, the composition of the active substances varies greatly depending on the type of apple (see also below "Which apple variety is the best"). Also, the composition changes during the ripening process, so that unripe apples provide plant compounds other than mature ones. Storage also has an impact on phytochemical content, albeit less than processing into compote, applesauce or cooked juices. Therefore apples should never be cooked. Apples and their benefits to your health

Apples should be on the menu every day, especially during the autumn harvest season: they help you lose weight, prevent asthma, protect against cancer, cleanse the liver, restore the intestinal flora and are good for the brain - just a small selection of all to present positive apple effects.

Apples Help With Weight Loss

When it comes to weight loss, you should definitely give all the apples preference. They help you lose weight better than apple juice. Eat a medium apple as an appetizer about 15 minutes before the main meal. The effect is not huge, but it definitely contributes to your customer success. You save - so you found out - at least 60 kcal.

In the corresponding study, the test persons ate 15% less of the main meal after the apple appetizer. Because the meals in this study contained about 1240 kcal, it was 186 kcal, which was consumed less. Of these, one now subtracts the calories from the apple (in the present study had 120 kcal), so that the mentioned 60 kcal remain.

Processed apple forms (mus and juice) did not produce comparable results in this study.In a Brazilian study described in the March 2003 issue of Nutrition, it was also found that eating apples (and pears too) results in weight loss in overweight people. 400 women were divided into three groups. One group ate a portion of oatmeal cookies three times a day in addition to the normal meals (one would expect an effect due to the oat-typical fiber), the second three times a day an apple, and the third three times a day a pear for 12 weeks each.

The apple and pear groups lost 1.2 kilograms each, the oat biscuit group did not decrease. The two fruit groups also had a healthier blood sugar level after the 12 weeks than the oat biscuit group.

Apples and Apple Juice Prevent Lung Disease

A person who regularly eats apples or drinks apple juice is less likely to suffer from asthma, according to a Finnish study of 10,000 men and women in 2002. The high flavonoid content in apple strengthens lung function and thus reduces susceptibility to asthma and many other lungs - and also heart disease.

The study thus showed that the more quercetin (one of the flavonoids in the apple) consumed a person, the lower the mortality from heart disease. Quercetin also reduced the risk of developing lung cancer and Type 2 diabetes, while reducing the risk of stroke if the food contained plenty of kaempferol, naringenin and hesperetin - all flavonoids, which are also known to be in the apple.

Something similar was found in an Australian study of 1,600 adults. Those who ate many apples and pears did not suffer as often from asthma and had stronger bronchi.

Apples and Apple Juice Protect the Liver

Apples and naturally cloudy apple juice are a kind of protective elixir for the liver. According to a March 2015 study, it is presumably polyphenols in the apple (the oligomeric procyanidins) that have a strong chemopreventive effect and can therefore protect against hepatotoxic chemicals.

Other studies showed that the polyphenols of the apple can protect against oxidative stress and thus the mitochondria (the power plants of our cells) from damage. The apple polyphenols also do this when, for example, painkillers are taken that would normally damage liver and intestinal cells. Indomethacin is one such painkiller. Apples can protect the liver and bowel from this drug, depending on the dose of the drug and the amount of apples.

At the same time, apples help the intestinal flora to maintain a healthy balance, which in turn relieves the liver. In the case of a diseased intestine, on the other hand, the digestive process is sluggish and numerous toxic substances develop in the intestine, which now reach the liver via the blood for detoxification. The rehabilitation of the intestine is therefore always one of the first steps if you want to do the liver something good - and apples or apple juice apparently help.

Apples and Apple Juice Are Good For the Intestine

The described influence of apples on the gut is, according to some scientists, one of the main reasons why apples have such good health effects. They therefore believe that apples have a positive effect on their health because they help to restore the intestinal flora. Because the intestinal flora is known to be the place where most of the immune system is localized. When the immune system is strong and the intestines are healthy, then hardly any disease can develop.

What makes the apple so intestine friendly is probably the combination of flavonoids, polyphenols and fiber (pectin). Studies show that eating an apple increased the amount of short-chain fatty acids in the intestine, indicating that the intestinal bacteria turned the fiber of the apple into just those fatty acids.

On the one hand, apples provide food for the intestinal flora and on the other hand they ensure good regeneration and care of the intestinal mucosa, as the resulting short-chain fatty acids are used by the intestinal mucosal cells as energy suppliers.

Apples and Apple Juice Keep the Brain Healthy

Those who like to drink naturally cloudy apple juice (daily) can also reduce their risk of Alzheimer's. Because the apple juice is to inhibit - so researchers in the year 2009 in the journal of Alzheimer's Disease - the education of the beta Amyloide in the brain. Beta-amyloids are those deposits that are also called "senile plaque" and associated with dementia.

And even if Alzheimer's is already diagnosed, apples and apple juice should be part of the diet. In that case, regular apple consumption can improve the behavior of the patients - according to a study from June 2010.

Researchers from the University of Massachusetts-Lowell, USA, found that consuming one-quarter of an apple cider a day (divided into two portions and drunk for four weeks) in people with moderate to severe Alzheimer's disease improves their behavior and mental health by almost 30 percent. Especially fears, nervousness and delusions improved.

Apples and Fructose

Apples are considered very fructose-rich fruits - and fructose is known not as good for health, as we have described here and here. But the example of apple once again shows very well that a substance is not bad per se, but what matters is in which form and, of course, in what quantity you take it.

If you take the fructose in concentrated and isolated form over soft drinks, juices from concentrate or sweets to yourself, then it can be quite harmful.

By consuming the natural fruit or its natural juice, on the other hand, this harmful effect does not appear. The cocktail of all the other - very healthy substances - prevents the fructose from causing harm. On the contrary. It may even be that the fructose has an advantageous effect here.

Of course you should not live alone on apple juice and drink it gallons. In these studies, subjects never consumed more than 250 ml of high-quality apple juice per day and, despite this small amount, had a very positive impact.

here are thousands of apple varieties - ancient and brand new. The new ones are often huge, immaculate and stay in the supermarket for weeks. Their taste is usually sweet and mild, often bland. The old varieties still taste like an apple should actually taste: aromatic, spicy and sweet-sour, sometimes also tart or lemon-like. They thrive less in orchards than on the good old orchard meadow. They require less pesticides (if any) and are more resistant to disease. Their yield is less calculable, there are good years and less good ones.

It is often said that new breeds are richer in vitamin C. For example, Braeburn contains 20 mg of vitamin C per 100 g, while a "normal" apple delivers only 12 mg of vitamin C. As if the vitamin C is the measure of all things or apples. If you want to provide yourself with vitamin C, then you think less of the apple. You eat citrus (50 mg vitamin C), broccoli (115 mg), cauliflower (70 mg), red pepper (120 mg), kohlrabi (60 mg) and many other vegetables and salads, but not necessarily an apple.

In the case of the apple, vitamin C is completely irrelevant. As we have seen above, it is especially its phytochemicals that make it so valuable - and not the vitamin C. Especially in terms of polyphenols, the old apple varieties are much better equipped than new varieties.

Old Apple Varieties Are Healthier

The apple needs polyphenols to protect against fungal infections and insect infestation. Modern apple varieties, which grow in plantations and are sprayed 20 times a year against fungal infections and insects, do not require any self-protection and therefore do not form any or only a few polyphenols. Quite different the old apple varieties. They are largely dependent on themselves (if grown from organic farming) and are therefore also rich in these very special and healing substances for humans.

Investigations or analyzes have so far been carried out only a few in this regard. In one study, however, the bright red Idared apples proved to be particularly rich in polyphenols.

It can also be assumed that apples with a rather bitter taste, which also have a higher tannin content, also contain more polyphenols. The harsh apple varieties include, for example, the Boskoop and the Cox Orange, the Renetten, the Goldparmäne and the Gewürzluiken. At the same time these apples are of course much less contaminated with pesticide residues.

In the supermarket, you will most likely not find these apple varieties anymore. But maybe at the next vegetable market, in the organic market or directly from the farm at the farmer who still cultivates his orchard meadows.

And if you have a garden and want to plant an apple tree, then choose an old apple variety. At specialized nurseries you will find a wide selection and can choose there a variety that has been particularly good for centuries on the soil conditions and the climate in your country

Region is adjusted. Also under the term "Urobst" you will find on the Internet special nursery schools, which even root even, so have not ennobled apple trees in the range.

Rootless means that the apple tree is pulled out of a seed and you can pull trees from the seeds of its apples, which always carry the same apple variety. If, on the other hand, you were to plant an apple seed from a Granny Smith in the ground, an apple tree would grow out of it, but it would not supply granny apples, but might even supply granny apples. U. completely different apples.

How do you eat apples - whole or as juice? With or without shell? It is important in apple consumption that you always buy the crunchy fruits from organic farming. Experience has shown that the matte apples are fresher and tastier than the fruits with a glossy shell.

Eat apples in any case with the shell, because in the shell are most polyphenols, flavonoids, vitamins and fiber. Only vitamin C is found in the pulp larger amounts than in the shell.

For the same reason, of course, it's better to drink juice instead, to eat the fruits completely or mix them into the smoothie. Because when juicing many of the valuable ingredients are lost. As mentioned above, it is best to always eat apples raw, so do not cook them to mush or compote. If you decide for the juice, then it should be the unfiltered, so naturally cloudy apple juice. Juice from concentrate is out of the question. Instead, choose an organic juice as it has been processed and treated as little as possible and therefore has significantly higher levels of active ingredients.

Of course, it would be even better if you always made your apple juice completely fresh at home. Then it is not pasteurized, which is always the case with purchased juices - whether juice or not.