What are stewed apples and why should we eat them?
These are the questions were going to answer in this video, so keep watching.
Hi this is Livia with Healthy Happy and Wise bringing you the latest Ayurvedic
diet and lifestyle tips. I first heard about stewed apples
from the late Vaidya Rama Kant Mishra, an Ayurvedic physician from India.
He was telling all of his clients to start the day with a stewed apple.
Stewed apples are simply chopped apples cooked in water with some cloves for about 15 minutes.
But don't let their simplicity fool you. They are a powerhouse of benefits from
the point of view of both ayurvedic and modern science.
In fact, I recently discovered that there is a functional medicine practitioner
by the name of Dr. Michael Ash in the UK, who has been recommending stewed apples
for over 20 years.
Let's start with benefit number one.
Stewed apples, as Vaidya Mishra explained, fire up the digestion in the morning.
Starting the day with cooked fruit will give your digestive fire, or Agni, a good boost
for the whole day. On the other hand, eating cold fruit would have the opposite effect of
slowing down your digestion. The strength of your digestion is not as strong in the morning
as it is in the middle of the day. So a heavy or cold breakfast can
put too much burden on the digestion. As a side note, Agni is not only responsible
for the digestion that happens in the stomach, it is in charge of all metabolic processes
including all the digestive enzymes, the liver, and the endocrine system.
It also works at the level of the cells.
Now you may wonder why we need to keep our Agni strong.
In addition to the obvious reason of avoiding digestive issues,
a weak Agni contributes to the buildup of toxins in the body.
Ayurveda calls these toxins ama.
Ama is an umbrella term for germs, undigested food, and toxins from the environment.
If our Agni is not strong, we keep accumulating ama which is the beginning of all disease.
On the contrary, when Agni is functioning properly,
we not only avoid accumulating ama, our body produces a substance called ojas.
Ojas is the opposite of ama. It permeates the entire body and regulates how everything works.
Ojas coordinates between consciousness and the body
it nourishes the tissues and builds immunity, and it makes you strong and happy.
Now let's go on to benefit number two.
Apples are an excellent prebiotic food and support gut health. Here's how it works.
Apples contain pectin, which is a soluble fiber that is fermented
by the beneficial bacteria in the intestines.
These bacteria use pectin to generate short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs)
These are involved with regulating immunity, healing inflammation,
and may provide protection against cancer and other diseases.
Here is the interesting thing though. Cooking the apples makes the
pectin content more easily available to our beneficial bacteria.
So stewed apples are not only easier for us to digest, but also for our gut bacteria.
Benefit number three.
Apples are rich in insoluble fiber which promotes elimination
and detoxification, and prevents constipation. Especially cooked apples since they are
more Vata-pacifying than raw apples. So stewed apples really support the entire digestive system.
An onto benefit number four.
Stewed apples support weight loss.
As we mentioned, apples are high in fiber. They also have high
water but low calorie content. So this makes apples a low calorie density food,
which means it promotes fullness, reduces calorie intake, and supports weight loss.
And benefit number five.
Stewed apples are good for all three doshas.
For Kapha, it's an ideal breakfast on its own.
Vata and Pitta can eat a more substantial breakfast after the stewed apples, if they are hungry.
You can add different spices based on your dosha, and include more or less dried fruits.
Now that we have learned all the five benefits of stewed apples, I'm going to show you how to make them.
But first of all, there are some basic recommendations I'd like to share.
Number one: favor organic non-GMO apples to avoid potentially harmful chemicals.
Number two: choose ripe fruit. Unripe fruit is harder to digest and can cause imbalance.
Number three: make your apples fresh every day.
Ayurveda doesn't recommend eating leftovers because they create ama.
Number four: use sweet apples such as Red or Golden Delicious.
Sour apples are not balancing and can aggravate Pitta dosha.
And number five: it's best to eat you stewed apple first thing in the morning to fire up your digestion.
You can eat your regular breakfast thirty minutes later.
So these are ingredients you will need:
One sweet apple (Red or Golden Delicious) or a sweet pear.
Four whole cloves and quarter cup water. And here is how you make the apples:
Peel and core an apple and dice it into half-inch pieces.
Put it into a stainless steel pot with the water and cloves.
Cover and simmer on low heat for 15 minutes.
Remove the cloves just before serving. Sip warm water with your stewed apple.
Now as a modification you can use pears which have similar benefits to apples
and can be substituted in this recipe. You can also add a piece of cinnamon stick,
Which adds additional flavor, helps balance blood sugar levels, and supports digestion.
You can also add some prunes, figs, and raisins for a more substantial breakfast
and to further improve digestion and elimination.
In conclusion, eating a stewed apple in the morning is a very simple but
powerful habit you can incorporate into your daily routine to support your
entire digestive tract from your stomach to your colon.
In addition, it's the perfect snack to start the day before your morning exercise.
It will give you the energy boost you will need without making you feel full.
Once you make it into a habit, it will be hard to stop.
Trust me, I've been doing it for 15 years.
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