Apple juice: useful properties and contraindications

Despite the current variety of fruits, including exotic ones, apples have become firmly entrenched in our diet. They are considered an everyday product in families of all incomes, and without them we can no longer imagine our lives. This is due, first of all, not to availability, but to the product's usefulness: doctors strongly recommend consuming apples every day, especially the juice. It has a number of valuable properties and helps maintain the health of the whole body.

Composition and Calories

Considering the composition of apple juice, it is impossible to find a more beneficial drink for the human body. It is the champion among foodstuffs in terms of content of useful minerals.

The caloric value of freshly squeezed apple juice is only 45 calories per 100 grams, protein is 0.4 g, fat is 0.4 g and carbohydrates are 9.8 g.

Valuable substances contained in apple juice:

1. B vitamins. They play an important role in cellular metabolism, are responsible for energy metabolism and normal functioning of the nervous system. They also regulate blood sugar, the immune system, increase stress resistance and are essential for cell renewal in the body.
2. Fiber. It is vital for the healthy functioning of the whole human body. Its regular intake prevents the emergence of dysbacteriosis and helps cleanse the gastrointestinal tract of toxins, removes harmful substances from the body, reduces the risk of colon cancer.
3. Vitamin A. Responsible for the health of skin and mucous membranes, promotes wound healing, is a powerful antioxidant, prevents the formation of cancerous tumors and is an indispensable aid in the treatment of cancer.
4. Vitamin C. It is essential in treating infections, activates the body's immune system, is important for cell growth and repair, significantly slows the aging process and serves as a good detoxifier.
5. Vitamin E. Supports the functioning of all body systems, has a positive effect on the human reproductive system, prevents blood clots and is the main fighter against aging.
6. Vitamin PP. It regulates the activity of the higher nervous system, supports the health of the heart and blood vessels, helps digestion, and takes part in the formation of many important hormones.
7. Vitamin H. It is the most important participant of carbohydrate metabolism, provides good skin and hair, improves glucose metabolism, participates in hematopoiesis and helps in protein digestion, provides oxygen delivery to cells.
8. Pectin. It promotes better absorption of nutrients and creates favorable conditions for the reproduction of healthy microorganisms in the body, takes cholesterol, radioactive metals and toxins.
9. Various minerals. Necessary for normal functioning of the body (manganese, iodine, phosphorus, copper, cobalt, zinc, chromium, iron, potassium and calcium).
10. Sugar. Needed for normal brain function and good mood.
11. Starch. Provides a feeling of fullness.

How freshly squeezed apple juice is good for you

First of all, apple juice can be seen as a natural, widely available remedy that helps to replace expensive vitamin complexes. Unlike drugstores, the useful substances contained in this fruit are perfectly absorbed by our body.

It is extremely necessary to consume patients suffering from anemia, avitaminosis, as well as people who have suffered a heart attack. Its role is indispensable for the restoration of disturbed metabolism.

The fruit is an excellent thirst quencher, has a diuretic and biliary action, is a good antimicrobial agent.

For women

Each of us has heard about the "rejuvenating apples" since childhood. Celebrated since ancient times in folk folklore, beneficial properties of this fruit can hardly be overestimated. And since their effectiveness is "on the face", the main admirers of apple juice have become representatives of the beautiful half of humanity.

Useful properties:

1. Preservation of youth. Not only does apple juice have anti-aging properties, but it also improves the body's regenerative processes that promote rejuvenation. Women who care about their health and appearance regularly consume apple juice to preserve their youth and freshness.
2. The source of beauty. The elements contained in apple juice in large quantities transform the appearance better than any cosmetologist or plastic surgeon. Therefore, apples in women are especially valued as a source of beauty: smooth skin of even color, long, silky hair and a thin waist are constant attributes of the appearance of apple juice lovers.
3. Assistance in conception. The high content of vitamin E in apples, which, moreover, entering the body as part of the juice is perfectly absorbed, has a positive effect on the reproductive system and allows you to conceive faster.
4. Avitaminosis prevention. Perhaps everyone suffers from such symptoms as peeling skin, rashes, faded hair, brittle nails, and rapid fatigue in the spring. Avitaminosis greatly affects the appearance of women. Instead of treating it with expensive vitamin complexes, which are also poorly absorbed, it is much better to drink a couple of glasses of natural juice, rich in useful substances.
5. Effects on the endocrine system. Hormones produced by the thyroid gland are of great importance for women's health. Being in the norm, they ensure not only the possibility of conceiving a baby, but also regulate metabolic processes and prevent obesity.
6. Reducing the symptoms of premenstrual syndrome. Apple juice helps to maintain normal levels of hemoglobin in the blood, stops blood flow, prevents the appearance of premenstrual pain and bad moods.
7. Aid in weight loss. Apples not only saturate our body with nutrients, but also help to speed up metabolism and normalize stools, help to remove excess fat from the hips and waist. Thanks to the presence of apple juice in the diet, you can avoid metabolic disorders and prevent the appearance of excess weight.
8. Preservation of health. Beautiful appearance is impossible without internal health, so women appreciate the ability of freshly squeezed apple juice to remove toxic, harmful substances from the body and keep immune systems toned.

For men

Increased stamina. Due to its tonic properties, regular consumption of fresh apple juice prevents the appearance of chronic fatigue, helps to get enough sleep faster and feel awake.

1. Improved potency. Apple juice regulates the production of male hormones, improves blood flow and has a positive effect on male strength.
2. Career advancement. Thanks to the tonic effect of apple juice on the nervous system, brain activity and physical stamina, men who consume it regularly have a better chance of achieving success in work. Useful vitamins and trace elements allow you to stay energized and improve concentration on the goal.
3. Life Extension. The antioxidant and cell regeneration boosting properties of apple juice allow you to prolong your body's youthfulness and maintain your health for as long as possible.
4. Prevention of cardiovascular diseases. The male body is prone to heart disease, so the preventive effect of apple juice is especially appreciated.

In pregnancy.

1. Vitamin saturation. For pregnant women, the question of where to get vitamins is the most acute. Useful substances contained in freshly squeezed natural apple juice will help to solve this problem and not only complement the pharmacy vitamin complexes, but also improve their absorption by the body of a woman.
2. Increase the chances of giving birth to a healthy baby. If there is no deficiency of vitamins and useful micronutrients in the body of the expectant mother, the baby will not suffer either.
3. Reducing the symptoms of toxicosis. Apple juice will significantly strengthen the body, and the woman will become less susceptible to painful symptoms of pregnancy.
4. Improvement of immunity. During pregnancy, a woman's body is the most vulnerable, but for the normal formation of the fetus, it is necessary to protect the future mother from all sorts of diseases that can have a bad impact on the health of the baby.
5. Solution to stool problems. For pregnant women, such a problem is not uncommon, and apple juice with high fiber content can be a real salvation.
6. Reducing the risk of obesity. During pregnancy, it is very difficult to keep yourself in shape, and since diets are strictly contraindicated, it is necessary to use foods that allow you to speed up your metabolism in forming your daily menu. Freshly squeezed apple juice will be very helpful here.
7. Reducing exposure to stress. Future mothers can not be nervous, so for normal functioning of the nervous system is better to drink apple juice regularly.

However, only what is good in moderation is good, and the pregnant woman should keep this in mind. It is necessary to observe a variety of diet, so as not to provoke an allergic reaction.

In diseases of the stomach, pregnant women are categorically not recommended to eat apples and juice from these fruits.

When breastfeeding.

1. Vitamins for the baby. A newborn baby needs vitamins, and a nursing mother may be contraindicated for medicines. A great substitute for them will serve as freshly squeezed apple juice.
2. Improve the immune system of the newborn. A breastfeeding mother can indirectly influence the health of her baby by forming her menu. Therefore, when she eats apples, she strengthens and satiates not only her body, but also the baby.
3. Prevention of anemia. With its properties, apple juice helps to recover as soon as possible after childbirth, including solving the problem with blood and hemoglobin levels in the blood.
4. Mood Improvement. Postpartum depression is very common among women. You can avoid it by regularly consuming freshly squeezed apple juice.
5. Increase of endurance. Apple juice is an excellent preventive measure against nervous exhaustion and physical fatigue, its regular consumption will help young mothers to cope with taking care of the baby.
6. Normalization of sleep. Most young mothers suffer from lack of sleep, and this problem will help to significantly reduce the rich in vitamins and trace elements of apple juice.
7. Restore the appearance after childbirth. Useful substances in apple juice will not only help to restore health after childbirth, but also to get in shape externally, improve the condition of the skin and hair structure.

The main thing is that during breastfeeding the baby is not allergic to apples, otherwise his mother will have to exclude them from her diet. To avoid this, it is necessary to eat only green apples (they are hypoallergenic). If you really want to drink juice from a red apple - you should first cut the skin off of it to avoid trouble.

Fresh apples can be eaten only three months after childbirth, and baked apples or cooked apple fresh juice - right away.

The daily norm for a woman in the position is the fresh juice of two apples (or one whole apple to eat). During the formation of the diet, you need to pay attention to how you feel (both the baby and the breastfeeding woman). If the drink provokes discomfort - it should be excluded from the menu or strictly limited.

For children

A child who is on artificial feeding, you can introduce apple juice to the menu in the sixth month, but only diluted with boiled water. It is best to do it in small amounts. Making sure that there are no allergic reactions and stomach upset, you can increase the volume of the product.

At the age of two to four years a baby can be given 100-200 ml of apple juice a day. In order that the vitamins are absorbed better by the baby, it is necessary to combine the juice of different types of fruit (for example, give freshly squeezed carrot-apple juice or pear-apple juice).

Doctors recommend avoid giving young children red apples, as they can cause allergies. It is better to start your baby's feedings with green fruit.

Thanks to its rich composition of vitamins and minerals, apple juice is useful for a child, because it is:

1. Helping the growing body. The baby gets from the drink the vitamins necessary for the proper formation of the skeleton and internal organs.
2. Preventing the risk of disease. Apple juice will help to avoid such ailments: avitaminosis, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, respiratory diseases, viruses, constipation, diarrhea, gastritis, ulcers and more.
3. Normalization of sleep patterns. Regularly receiving vitamins from juice the child will fall asleep more calmly and sleep more soundly.
4. Improvement of mood. The baby will be more resistant to stressful situations and will grow up calmer.
5. Improved academic performance. Due to the positive effect on the brain, apple juice improves the child's mental performance and memory.
6. Formation of immunity. Getting vitamins from juice, the child will be less susceptible to all kinds of viruses, as the body's defenses will work hurrah.

When losing weight

Going on a diet, we subconsciously begin to think about what products we should exclude from our diet. Fans of apples in this matter are very lucky - it is a completely dietary product.

Choosing apples for juice during the diet, you should give preference to green, sour varieties. They contain less sugar and more vitamins. The only thing you must necessarily remember when losing weight is that the calories in juices also count, and they will need to be taken into account when composing the menu for the day.

What are the benefits of apples when dieting:

1. The presence of vitamins and trace elements. The body during the diet needs them very much. To avoid further health problems, you need to take care of getting them in advance.
2. Immune protection. During weight loss all body systems weaken and need additional protection.
3. Acceleration of digestive processes. Apple juice perfectly solves all stool problems.
4. Loss of fat deposits on the sides and thighs. Apple juice primarily helps to lose weight in the most difficult and problematic areas of the figure. Also lovers of eating fresh apple juice benefit from a thin waistline and flat stomach.
5. Accelerated metabolism. Natural apple juice will help speed up the weight loss process.

Apple juice can be diluted with plain water and taken with you to workouts or to close the carbohydrate window with it.

Is Canned Apple Juice Useful?

Unlike freshly squeezed, the benefits of canned apple juice are highly questioned. A recent study by the New York Institute proved that most canned apple juices have naturally occurring arsenic levels far in excess of acceptable standards.

Despite this fact, no one is going to take this drink off the market. Experts say that natural arsenic in moderate amounts can not harm a person. However, before buying such products you should think carefully whether it is worth consuming or introducing into your diet or child's menu. The benefit of the processed product is put under great doubt: it is unlikely that any vitamins and minerals could survive the processing of juice. You only get a tasty liquid with increased arsenic content, the detrimental effect of which is obvious.

Apple juice in medicine

Freshly squeezed apple juice has long been proven to be beneficial. It is used to treat kidney stones - the patient is prescribed to drink it every two hours so that the stone dissolves. It has been proven that the peel and juice of this fruit can prevent cancer or slow down the appearance of metastases. The juice also helps to get rid of harmful substances in the body from the effects of radiation, smoking and chemicals.

For Diabetes Mellitus

Patients with diabetes need to control blood glucose and carbohydrate levels, so you should give preference to green apples of sour varieties. It is better to make juice from a whole apple, with peel, in no case adding sugar to the resulting drink. It is recommended to use 1 glass of freshly squeezed juice 3 times a day, diluting it with water.

The fiber contained in apples helps to regulate the blood sugar level of the patient. For those people who do not suffer from diabetes, apple juice will help to avoid its development.

Important: The glycemic index of apple juice is 40 units.

In pancreatitis

During the acute course of the disease the patient should not use apple juice categorically, because it can provoke even more inflammation of the intestinal mucosa and aggravate the secretion of pancreatic secretion, as well as other inflammatory processes of the gastrointestinal tract.

However, apple juice in moderate amounts can be used to make kissels, sauces, jellies and mousses for the patient. And start introducing it into the diet is allowed as early as the fourth day of the disease, as it recedes.

Apple juice can be consumed only after the acute stage of the disease has passed. Rules of consumption in pancreatitis:

1. In no case you should not use store-bought juices because of the high content of harmful food additives.
2. It is better to dilute apple juice with water.
3. You can not consume on an empty stomach, necessarily the first intake should be food, and in half an hour you can drink the juice.
4. The pulp in the drink should be avoided.
5. The fruit must be free of damage and rot.
6. Only sweet varieties of apples should be chosen for juicing.
7. Before making the juice, peel the apple and remove the seeds.
8. Use only fruit in which you are confident (avoid imported products and buy in the appropriate season).
9. Do not add sugar.

In case of gastritis.

During an exacerbation of the disease, patients are forbidden to consume apple juice. With gastritis, a person has an increased acidity of the stomach, and additional apple acid is not needed.

Juice can be introduced into the diet only after the onset of remission, strictly limiting its amount. When making a homemade drink, just as with pancreatitis, you need to choose sweet varieties of apples, avoid drinking juice on an empty stomach and in no case buy store-bought products.

For bowel

Apple juice has a wide range of benefits and is a reliable preventive against intestinal diseases. It contains pectins excellent for cleansing the body and eliminates toxins, regulates the bowel and prevents constipation. Apple juice helps to restore intestinal microflora, and also helps to heal microcracks.

For constipation

Freshly squeezed apple juice can play the role of a natural laxative (just drink it in large quantities, use it together with pear juice or combine it with bran, rich in fiber).

With severe constipation, it is recommended to mix fresh prune juice with apple juice and drink 3-4 glasses a day. Under no circumstances should you drink store-bought juice in order to get rid of constipation - it will not help.

Also with a small amount of this drink you can cure constipation and the baby. Infants under a year are recommended to give up to 60 ml of juice per day.

With gout

Since the acid contained in apples helps to excrete and neutralize uric acid salts, apple juice is an essential part of treatment for gout. Patients with this ailment should give preference to sweet varieties.

For the liver.

Natural freshly squeezed apple juice is an excellent preventive against liver disease. It also helps to cleanse it and recover from damage, it can be used as an additional means of treatment.

In cholecystitis.

Juice from sweet apples is a mandatory component of the diet in the treatment of cholecystitis. It should be drunk slowly, preferably through a straw. It is necessary to use only freshly prepared juice and drink it no later than half an hour before meals.

Face Masks with Apple Juice

Whitening mask for the face and cleavage

Mix one egg white with a tablespoon of fresh apple juice. Then apply the mask to the face three times, each time waiting for it to dry. After the third time wash off the mask with warm water.

Moisturizing mask

Mix a soup spoonful of fat sour cream with a soup spoonful of apple juice, apply it on your face and wash it off after 15 minutes.

Rejuvenating mask.

Mix in equal proportions of olive oil and apple juice, apply to the face with massaging movements and wash off after 15 minutes.

Health Hazards and Contraindications

It is categorically forbidden to use apple juice for people who suffer from acute gastrointestinal diseases. Also, its use should be strictly limited in case of hyperacidity of the stomach.

Remember that allergic reactions and personal intolerance to the product may occur.

How to choose and store apple juice

It is better not to buy apple juice in stores (the only exceptions are outlets, where the juice is squeezed immediately, in front of you). Such a product can not be stored - the faster you drink it, the more useful substances your body will receive. Canned home juices also should not be abused, because a large number of useful properties they have lost in the process of preparation and storage.

How to make apple juice at home

It will be better to use a juicer and consume juice fresh, within 30 minutes after making it. You can also grind the fruit on a grater and squeeze the juice from the pulp through gauze.

Before making the drink, it is necessary to get rid of the seeds, as they are harmful. But the skin is good for you - it has a lot of useful substances, and to make juice, you do not need to peel it.

What apples are suitable for juice

The most important thing in the preparation of homemade juice - the right fruits. The longer they are stored after they were picked, the less useful substances in them. The most useful are small, sour fruits. It is best to buy locally grown fruit and avoid products with a "glossy" look. It would be ideal if you have apples from your own orchard, in which quality you are confident.

When choosing apples you should first of all pay attention to the aroma - it should be felt even through the skin. Damage and stains on the fruit are not allowed. Apples should be moderately hard and without dents.

In which cases it is not advisable to buy apples:

1. They are unnatural, uniform color.
2. There are spots on the fruit.
3. There is no smell.
4. The apple looks "glossy" (this means that it has been treated to speed up growth).
5. The skin of the apple is thin and wrinkles form on it when pressure is applied, which means that the apple has been lying for a long time and will soon finally wither away.
6. The fruit shows signs of vermin (these can be cobwebs or dark dots).
7. Dents or other signs of damage are present.

How to drink apple juice properly

Because the acid in the juice corrodes tooth enamel, it is best to drink it through a straw.

You should avoid drinking it on an empty stomach and mixing it with food. It is best to drink freshly squeezed juice between meals, about 40 minutes before the meal.

How much you can drink per day

Healthy adults are advised to drink no more than a liter of freshly squeezed apple juice per day. Child from six months it can be given in an amount of 20-30 ml per day and look carefully at the reaction of the body, in case of problems - stop giving juice. Children after 2 years are allowed to give a glass of juice daily, diluted in half with water.

If a person has a heavy stomach after drinking juice, it is necessary to dilute the drink with water the next time.

Can you drink it at night and on an empty stomach?

It is not recommended to drink freshly squeezed juice neither before going to bed nor on an empty stomach, otherwise you risk experiencing negative effects of the acid it contains on your body. This can provoke abdominal bloating or even irritation of "sleeping" intestinal diseases.

Interesting facts about apples

1. The bright smell of apples is due to a set of essential oils, which are different in each variety. This is the reason for the difference in aromas between species.
2. According to science, the first cultivated tree was the apple tree. Our ancestors began to actively use it in the household more than 6,000 years ago.
3. There are more than 8000 varieties of apples in the world, and every year their number increases.
4. In ancient Greece, the apple tree was considered the sacred tree of Apollo.
5. The fruit consists of a quarter of the air, so it does not sink in water.
6. The action on the body depends on the color: yellow fruits strengthen the gums, red - the circulatory system of the body, and green apples - dental enamel.
7. If an apple has a wormhole, then it is the apple that is the most useful.
8. In ancient Russia, the Garden of Eden was depicted as a garden of apples.
9. Half of the world's harvest from trees is apples.

Photo of apple juice