Therapeutic Benefits Of Cooked Apples and Cloves

Feb 5

Updated January 4, 2026

Apples, like all fruits and vegetables are the wholesome type of carbohydrates, plus they contain fibre, pectin and phytonutrients. Fibre and pectin support digestion and your friendly bacteria, and phytonutrients protect your health, imparting aspects of nature’s wisdom into our physiology that researchers have still yet to completely figure out. This simple apple recipe below may or may not come as a surprise just how beneficial it is to have first thing in the morning. A warm serving of fruit that gently kindles, cleans up and supports your digestion and friendly bacteria in your gut. As modern science is discovering what helps digestion helps with brain health.

An Apple a Day…

I learned this cooked apple recipe from my Ayurvedic teacher and doctor, Vaidya Rama Kant Mishra, whose Ayurvedic family lineage, Shaka Vansiya Ayurveda (SVA) has been passed down from one generation to another for centuries. Vaidya means doctor. Ayurveda means the “science of life” (ayu means life, veda means science or knowledge), the traditional health system from India going back thousands of years. As Vaidya Mishra put it, Ayurveda is a health manual of what to do and what not to do to maintain health and prevent disease. It is an exciting time, as modern research is gradually discovering the practical health benefits of the knowledge contained in Ayurveda, heading towards a similar trajectory as Yoga and meditation. In fact, Ayurveda and Yoga have their roots in Vedic knowledge.

This cooked apple is a simple yet meaningful introduction to Ayurvedic cooking. In Ayurveda, digestive health is regarded as the foundation of overall wellbeing, as the strength and balance of digestion play a major role in preventing the development of illness and disease. Contemporary research increasingly supports this understanding, recognizing that gut health is closely connected to brain health through the gut-brain axis, an insight that has long been emphasized in Ayurveda, termed as the apana-prana relationship.

Cooked Apple with Cloves

Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 10 - 15 minutes stovetop, or overnight on low in a slow cooker
1 Serving

INGREDIENTS

1 apple
2 cloves
⅓ - ½ cup water

INSTRUCTIONS

Peel and core the apple and cut in bite size pieces and place in your chosen cooking vessel with 2 cloves.
If cooking on the stove, boil the water and cloves in a small saucepan, add the apples, and allow to boil for a few minutes. Cover with a lid and turn down heat to low and cook further until soft all the way through, up to another 5-10 minutes, depending on the type of apple.
If using a slow cooker, place all ingredients in the container, and use the lowest temperature setting on your slow cooker and it will be ready the following morning.
Remove cloves, serve warm.

Recommended to have first thing in the morning, followed by cooked grains.
Caution- Consult your doctor before consuming if you have blood sugar issues.

Enjoy!

Benefits of Cooked Apples & Cloves

Apples contain fibre and pectin. Both are excellent for digestive function. Fibre supports digestion and elimination, while pectin is a prebiotic. Pre-biotics are food for your probiotics or friendly bacteria supporting the inside lining of your gut, acting as food for the friendly bacteria to grow and thrive.
Contains Vitamins A, E, K and rich in polyphenols, a type of antioxidant. Antioxidants protect you against free radicals which damage your body and cause chronic disease and cancer.
Easy on digestive system. This recipe is recommended to have first thing in the morning, and followed by whole grains afterwards if you are still hungry. Peeling and cooking the apple is more gentle on the tummy, and at breakfast time we want to be easy on the tummy because the digestive system is just starting to “wake up”- Ayurveda views that at breakfast time our digestive fire or agni, the strength of our digestion is at its lowest. As the day progresses digestive fire increases, peaks at lunch time (this makes sense as the sun is at its peak at noon), and dips down further after sunset. Lunch then becomes the biggest meal of the day, while breakfast and dinner are smaller. Raw fruit is best on the digestive system in the afternoon, rather than morning and later in the evening, hence cooking the apple is supportive to your digestive system.
Adding cloves in this cooked apple recipe gently opens up physical, circulatory channels of the body, further promoting smoother digestion.
Ayurveda places a huge emphasis on good digestion as it was understood then that the gut contained small organisms, what my Ayurvedic teacher, Vaidya Mishra, called “yoginis”, which we know now as friendly bacteria. Research show the gut contains the largest number at 100 trillion bacteria.

Modern Science Agrees with Ayurveda- Digestion is Key to Health & Happiness

Science has discovered a special connection between the gut and the brain. Researchers have coined the term, the gut-brain axis upon discovery that the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord), digestive system and the enteric nervous system (ENS- the “brain in the gut”) are inextricably linked. In fact, research points to the ENS being the “brain of the brain”, and acts independently from the central nervous system. Fundamentally, this means that the gut is actually connected to, and communicates bi-directionally with our thoughts, feelings and emotions through chemical interactions. These interactions happening inside each and everyone of us are mainly because of neurotransmitters and hormones made by the friendly bacteria in your gut. In fact, research has shown that the friendly bacteria in your gut produce 90% of the neurotransmitters in your brain. Take for example the chemical, serotonin, known as the “happy hormone”. Serotonin is a hormone that aids in your sleep, appetite and digestion and stabilizes your mood and your feelings.

What the research is pointing to is that brain function and our health and happiness is dependent upon the quality of our digestive system, coined as the gut-brain axis.

Ayurveda had outlined the relationship between the gut and brain, and called it the apana-prana relationship. I have seen this in my practice with clients, when apana vata and prana vata dosha are out of balance there are digestive issues, and symptoms such as anxiety, hyperactivity, or sleep issues.

Vata is one of three types of energy in the body, and is governed by space and air elements responsible for circulation, timing and intelligence of the body. Prana vata is a sub-dosha located in the head, and is the main controller of all fifteen sub-doshas. Prana vata which governs the area of the brain and head area responsible for your senses, thinking, creativity and reasoning. Prana vata imbalances show up as anxiety, restlessness, sleep issues, attention disorders, hyperactivity and headaches. Apana vata is the downward movement in the lower abdomen, large intestine, excretory channels and pelvis. Digestive issues reside in the apana vata area. Imbalances in apana vata manifest as digestive issues such as constipation, diarrhea, irregular bowel movements and elimination issues, irregular menses, low back pain or urinary issues.

Vaidya Mishra pointed out a good place to start to keep vata dosha balanced is to maintain a steady routine, eat fresh, warm meals, such as cooked apples and cloves first thing in the morning, don’t push your bed time past 10pm, have meals on time, don’t rush around too much, and have daily quiet time.

Modern science is in agreement with Ayurveda that thriving colonies of friendly bacteria (yoginis) in the gut are needed for brain health. Moreover, Ayurveda understood that the final product of well digested food is ojas. This apple recipe is good for digestion, and when food is digested well, our friendly bacteria thrive, and when friendly bacteria is thriving, we make lots of ojas. Ojas as known in Ayurveda is our strength, stamina, and immunity to disease. Furthermore, Vaidya Mishra described ojas as the “hormones and neurotransmitters” giving us vitality and a beautiful glow.

Conclusion

As research shows, our health and happiness depend largely on our mental, emotional, and physical habits- each shaped by a complex web of chemical interactions within the gut-brain axis. Ayurveda has long emphasized this connection, teaching that improper digestion is the root cause of many diseases, and perhaps also plays a significant role in mental health challenges, as modern science continues to uncover.

In Ayurvedic understanding, strong digestion means less ama (partially digested food), and the healthy production of ojas- what SV Ayurveda describes as the body’s neurotransmitters and hormones. Modern science echoes this view, recognizing that neurotransmitters and hormones are essential to all physical and mental functions.

Whether we describe it as apana-prana or the gut-brain relationship, the truth remains: nourishment for the gut is nourishment for the mind.

Happy belly, happy mind—and this apple recipe will bring you just that.

References

Vaidya R. K. Mishra- Notes from Shaka Vansiya Ayurveda Courses, Practicum, Conferences and Lectures 2003-2015
Marianne Teitelbaum, Healing the Thyroid with Ayurveda, 2019
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4367209/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5198827/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22392290/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1392256/
https://www.healthline.com/health/chronic-inflammation#causes
https://www.apa.org/monitor/2012/09/gut-feeling