Fall is peak apple season
Does an apple a day really keep the doctor away?
Ayurvedically, it's a cooked apple not a raw one that keeps the doctor away. Raw apples can be cold, drying and might not digest as easily, especially if unskinned. Cooked apples are warm and soft, like soups, and digests in a snap. A spoonful of applesauce on the tongue registers sour, a taste that increases saliva and stimulates the digestive tract. Sour taste also cleanses the liver and cools the blood by drawing bile out of the body into the small intestine, somatically experienced as a softening of the eyes. Malic acid, the constituent responsible for sour taste, has a particular affinity for liver cleansing and support. Apples are also sweet, a taste that nourishes the body and awakens our delight. After we chew and swallow the cooked apple, it descends to the stomach and passes to the small intestine. Although absorption of sweet taste here increases blood sugar, apples have a relatively low glycemic index (38) and calorie count (72). Next, the applesauce moves into the colon. Sour taste continues to warm and stimulate secretions that maintain a moist colon. The high fiber (2.9 grams/cup) bulks up stool for an easy elimination that cleanses the colon.
So ,cooked apples being rich in soluble fiber, act as a prebiotic, feeding the beneficial bacteria in the gut, helping it multiply. A clean colon and clean blood is a clean bill of health for many of us.
ABOUT APPLE (COOKED)
In Norse mythology, apples are said to provide eternal youthfulness. Apples appear in many religious traditions, including the bible, often as a forbidden fruit. Apples originated in Western Asia, where its wild ancestor still grows today. There are more than 7,500 known cultivars of apples. China, the United States and Iran are leading producers of apples.
PREPARATION
To make applesauce, peel, core and thinly slice apples. Simmer them till tender. You can add spices i.e. cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger(dried) and ghee and raw sugar or Marple syrup
[ source: www.joyfulbelly.com ]