Words On Wellness: Apples!
By Karin Uphoff.
Tis the season of harvest and the joy of crunching on fresh crisp apples in Northern California. Maybe you’ve attended the Mendocino County Fair and Apple Show held each September in Boonville. Every year an amazing variety of apples grown in Mendocino county are on display, with more being introduced each year. Some of the apple trees in the valley are over one hundred years old (only slightly older than the fair itself) and still sharing their food and medicine.
Packed with vitamins, flavonoids, and soluble fiber, Malus spp are one of the healthiest and most agreeable fruits to eat, and the source of apple cider vinegar, apple sauce, syrups and cider. Its readily available pectin improves bowel movement and detoxification and has been shown to reduce the risk of colon cancer while drawing out LDL cholesterol. This pectin is also excellent for grabbing heavy metals. Daily consumption of unsweetened apple sauce is a home treatment for reducing lead levels in children.
Apples are rich with phytochemicals, about 385 of them. Some of these are flavonoids, such as quercetin, kaempferol, and myricetin are highly antioxidant and scavenge on free radicals, which would otherwise damage cells and DNA. Quercetin, in particular helps mitigate histamine reactions, cardio-vascular inflammation, regulate blood sugar, inhibit the build-up of cholesterol in the bloodstream, and may protect nerves.
Sour apples (usually green varieties) are considered more detoxifying, good for teeth and bone growth, and help with depression. Freshly juiced sour apples are excellent for cleansing the lymph system. The chief value lies in malic and tartaric acids that can neutralize stomach acid and quell indigestion, and are generally helpful in digesting rich foods like pork and goose. This is probably how eating apples with cheese got started. These acids also break down gallstones and kidney stones. A steady addition of apples and apple cider vinegar to one’s diet has been shown to prevent calcium-oxalate stone build-up.
Don’t forget seeds contain life force too, so eat the whole apple! Apple seeds are high in B17, a cancer-protective vitamin also found in strawberries, cashews, and apricot kernels. Chew them well (you can spit out the husk) or juice the whole apple with its core to get this benefit. In early spring young apple leaves can be eaten fresh in salads or dried for tea. The blossoms are edible too, but it’s best to save those for the bees.
