Apple cider

Cider in the United States is usually understood to mean cloudy, unfermented, unpreserved apple juice. If the juice is processed or clarified, it is then called apple juice. Apple juice is filtered juice that’s been heated to 190 °F during processing. Apple juice is typically clear while apple cider may appear cloudy and opaque. Apple juice has a smooth texture because it’s usually strained to eliminate pulp and sediment found in more traditional apple cider.

Apple cider still has some pulp, as well as more vitamins and minerals. It may or may not be pasteurized, which is the process of heating the liquid to a certain temperature to kill bacteria.

Apple cider is a perishable and it's a tradition to serve apple cider in the fall season, especially around holidays like Halloween and Thanksgiving.

Cider in the U.S. is different from cider in other countries. While it typically refers to fresh-squeezed, unfiltered apple juice in the states, “cider” in other parts of the world refers to an alcoholic beverage that most Americans know as “hard cider”.

Apple cider’s color is more opaque than apple juice and has a shorter shelf life of about 7 to 10 days refrigerated. If some apple cider is left unrefrigerated (particularly one that is unpasteurized), fermentation will begin, and it will eventually turn into "hard" cider.

Apple cider contains polyphenols, which are compounds in plants that act as antioxidants. They can help the body to fight against free radicals and cell damage, lowering the risk of certain types of cancer, diabetes, and heart disease. Polyphenols also help to ease inflammation in the body.
Apple cider

What are health benefits of apple juice?

Apple juice is a popular drink and one of the important breakfast items in Europe and North America. It is a valuable aid to digestion and when taken in an empty stomach tends to stimulate the activities of the lower intestines.

Drink at least 2 glasses of this juice every day. Apple juice has a high level of minerals and vitamins, which makes it ideal for skin health.

Apple juice can assist in lowering blood-cholesterol levels, building resistance against infection, changing colonic flora and reducing the colonic bacilli, eliminating body toxins and controlling blood pressure and blood sugar levels.

Because of its high mineral content apple juice is also excellent for producing healthy skin, hair and fingernails.

Apple juice contains a considerable proportion of the soluble components of the original apples, such as sugars, acids and various other carbohydrates. Malic acid is the predominant acid in apple juice.

The fruit acids of the apple stimulate the digestion process and assist in the assimilation of nutrients. The large amount of fruit pectin found in the juice forms a gel in the intestines that absorbs and dissolves toxins and normalizes the process of elimination.

Apple juice is very beneficial in the case of fevers and inflammatory troubles. It is refreshing in hot days and satisfying in cool weather.

Fresh apples are considered a food of moderate energy value, whereas processed apple products are other comparable to fresh apples in energy value or higher because of concentration, dehydration or the addition of sugars during processing.
What are health benefits of apple juice? 

Recent researches on apple juice

Apples are a widely consumed, rich source of phytochemicals, and epidemiological studies have linked the consumption of apples with reduced risk of some cancers, cardiovascular disease, asthma, and diabetes.

Cloudy, less processed apple juice contains up to four times the antioxidants found in highly processed, clear apple juice, according to a new Polish study appearing in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture.

The researchers made both cloudy and clear juice from the apples -- Champion and Idared varieties  and then tested for levels of plant antioxidants called polyphenols. Oszmianski and colleagues found that the cloudy juice contained as much as four times the antioxidants as the clear juice.

The new study suggests that eating and drinking apple juice, can protect the brain from the effects of oxidative stress – and therefore antioxidant-rich foods should be eaten regularly, according to Thomas B. Shea, PhD from University of Massachusetts Lowell’s Center for Cellular Neurobiology and Neurodegeneration Research, whose study was just published in the latest issue of the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease.

Based on these epidemiological studies, it shows that apples may play a large role in reducing the risk of a wide variety of chronic disease and maintaining a healthy lifestyle in general.

Apples were most consistently related with reduced risk of cancer, heart disease, asthma, and type II diabetes when compared to other fruits and vegetables and other sources of flavonoids. Apple consumption was also positively associated with increased lung function and increased weight loss (Nutrition Journal 2004, 3:5)
Recent researches on apple juice

Carrot apple juice

Carrot juice contains many vitamins and minerals. It is high in beta-carotene. Carrot juice will enhance skins health and help to eliminate acne.

All apple varieties juice well and make refreshing and delicious drinks especially when combined to together with carrot. The hard, crisp apple produces the most juice, the flavor of which is sweet and delicate. Combination juices can nourish the system even more completely.

Apple contains pectin for the removal of toxins, and the fruit’s alkalinity makes it a digestive aid.

Carrot, rich in fiber, beta carotene, chelated minerals and antioxidants, is good for the eyes and the immune system, and helpful in reducing oxidative stress in the bloodstream. Beta carotene is believed to be able to breakdown the protective mucous membranes around cancer cells.

How to make apple and carrot juice?
*Wash the apples and remove the cores
*Using a soft brush under a running tap, remove any dirt form the carrots. Don’t peel them as most of the vital nutrients are found in and just under the skin.
*Cut the apples and carrots to fit the juicer
*Push the apple and carrot through the juicer using the safety plunger.
Carrot apple juice 

Minerals in Apple Juice

Apple juice has a high mineral content. Because of that apple juice is also excellent for producing healthy skin, hair and fingernails.

The core of apple as well as the skin should be put through the machine, as these contain valuable mineral elements also.

Apple juice is high in iron, which makes it valuable as a body-cleanser and an excellent blood builder. It is especially useful in cases of impure blood, pimples, worms, constipation, obesity , asthma. catarrh, diarrhea and gallstone.

Iron in apple juice also has a property that helps the body absorb the iron in other foods, such as eggs and liver.

Iron is needed for the formation of hemoglobin and a deficiency of his mineral produces anemia.

Apple juice also rich with silicon, magnesium, chlorine, copper, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, sodium and sulphur.

An optimal proportion of potassium and calcium in apple juice helps strengthen the cardiovascular system.

It does contain a generous amount of calcium, and this calcium aids the system in absorbing the calcium in other foods.
Minerals in Apple Juice

Apple Juice

Apple juice is a clarified product that is pasteurized to make it shelf stable.

Apple juice comes in two versions: cloudy and clear. Cloudy apple juice is made simply by chopping or shredding apples and then pressing out and straining the juice.

Clear apple juice is cloudy juice filtered to remove solid particles and then treated with enzymes to eliminate starches and the soluble fiber pectin.

Apple juice works wonders at cleansing our body, especially liver, kidneys an gallbladder.

Apple juice has a high mineral content. It also contains malic acid which plays an important role in normalizing the intestines, has a detoxifying effect in the body and is good for treating muscle disorders.

Apple juice can lower blood cholesterol and can healing internal inflammation.

Apple juice also contributes some iron and potassium.

Apple juice has antiviral properties, making it a valuable preventive measure against colds, bronchitis and other viral infections.

Fresh apple juice is white just like the color of the apple after bitten into it. Bottled apple juice is brown because vitamins have been oxidized upon contact with the air.

A high percentage of the vitamin A in apples is concentrated in their skins. Therefore, the apple juice with highest vitamin A content will be the apple juice from unpeeled, organically grown apples that are juiced with their skin on.

The vitamin C content of fresh juice from both peeled and unpeeled apples helps prevent colds flu, and intestinal infections.

Other than that apple juice also contributes some vitamin K.

After cranberry juice, apple juice ranks the second among the best juices in terms of antioxidants activity.
Apple Juice