Apples are one of the most beloved fruits, known for their role in preventing and treating hypertension, as well as alleviating fatigue. Their high fructose content offers benefits such as beautifying the skin, lowering blood pressure, and promoting bowel movements. The vitamin C in apples can nourish the skin, maintaining its luster and elasticity, preventing scurvy, and promoting wound healing. The aroma of apples can also relieve feelings of depression and oppression. Apples are suitable for symptoms such as irritability due to heat illness, dry throat and thirst, dry cough due to lung dryness, poor appetite, abdominal bloating after eating, and intoxication.
However, many individuals with weak spleen and stomach function may experience discomfort after eating raw apples. In fact, you might want to try cooked apples instead.
The Benefits of Eating Cooked Apples
According to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), apples are cool in nature and belong to the Spleen and Lung meridians. They have the effects of strengthening the spleen and stomach, relieving food stagnation, generating fluids and quenching thirst, stimulating appetite, alleviating drunkenness, and relieving summer heat. The benefits of eating cooked apples are numerous.
1. Strengthening the Spleen and Stomach, Relieving Food Stagnation
Cooking apples enhances their ability to strengthen the spleen, nourish the stomach, and aid digestion. Additionally, when cooked, the fibers in apples soften, causing less irritation to the gastrointestinal tract, especially for the elderly.
2. Enhanced Vascular Protection
Heating apples does not reduce their polyphenol content; in fact, it may increase it. This helps protect cardiovascular health and aids in lowering lipids and blood pressure.
3. Nourishing the Lungs
The polyphenols in apples also have antioxidant properties, helping to prevent diseases and nourish the lungs.
4. Preventing Diarrhea
When heated, the pectin in apples softens, making it less likely to cause diarrhea, which is suitable for those with spleen and stomach deficiency.
Ways to Enjoy Cooked Apples
How can you prepare delicious cooked apples?
1. Baked Apples
Method: Take one apple, wash it, cut it into four pieces with the skin on, and remove the core. Place the apple in a dish and heat it in the microwave for 5 minutes. It can be served as a side dish or eaten alone, ideally one per day.
Benefits: Regular consumption of baked apples can help lower cholesterol, prevent and treat hypertension, asthma, and protect the gastrointestinal tract from irritation, preventing constipation and diarrhea.
2. Fermented Rice Apples
Ingredients: Apples, fermented glutinous rice, raisins, almonds, goji berries.
Method: After washing the apple, cut it open and scoop out the core. Mix the apple flesh with fermented glutinous rice, raisins, almonds, and goji berries, then stuff it back into the hollowed apple. Cover with the apple top and steam for 15-20 minutes.
3. Apple and Pear Soup
Ingredients: Apples, snow pear, tremella, red dates.
Method: Pre-cook the tremella for 30 minutes, using a 1:7 ratio of tremella to water. Cut the snow pear, apple, and red dates into pieces and place them in a pressure cooker with the tremella. Add a little salt to balance the flavors and cook for 1 hour.
When is the Best Time to Eat Apples?
For healthy individuals with good digestive capacity, apples can be eaten at any time.
From a blood sugar control perspective, eating an apple 30 minutes before a meal can help lower post-meal blood sugar responses.
However, for those with gastrointestinal sensitivity or spleen and stomach deficiency, it is not recommended to eat fruit on an empty stomach. These individuals can adjust the timing of apple consumption based on their own feelings.
Additionally, the quantity of apples consumed should align with dietary guidelines, suggesting 200-350 grams per day, equivalent to one medium-sized apple, rather than eating excessively.
Can You Eat Waxed Apples?
Most apples sold in the market are brightly colored, leading many to believe there is an issue, especially with those that are “waxed.” Some even claim that eating such apples can cause cancer.
In fact, the wax on apples can be classified into “natural wax” that is present on the fruit and “artificial wax” that is applied.
The natural wax formed on apples primarily serves to reduce moisture evaporation and protect against harmful external substances, posing no harm to the body and being very safe.
To compensate for the loss of natural wax during washing, some vendors may apply artificial wax, which is an internationally accepted method for preserving fruit, with established standards and regulations.
Moreover, properly used edible wax is derived from natural plant and animal waxes, which are harmless to the body and do not cause cancer.
How to Choose Delicious Apples
1. Look at Color and Exterior
Apples that are evenly colored, with a mix of red and yellow and a few “freckles,” tend to be tastier. Apples that appear more refined in appearance are of better quality. Apples with dark surfaces and green stripes are not fully ripe.
2. Smell the Aroma
When purchasing apples, you can smell them; if there is a noticeable fruity aroma that is not overpowering, it indicates a high-quality apple. If the scent is faint, it suggests poor flavor or low ripeness. ■
【Source: Yunnan Traditional Medicine (compiled from Health China), Renwei Health WeChat;】