Therapeutic Benefits Of Cooked Apples and Cloves
Welcome to my Ayurveda & Yoga blog! I’m Evangeline and I’m an RMT and holistic health coach. I started my blog during covid to stay connected to my clients and share my love of cooking healthy, AYURVEDIC INSPIRED meals.
Ayurvedic cooking is a conscious approach to preparing and cooking tasty, nutritious, balanced meals using spices and herbs, and taking into consideration the external conditions- the season, time of day, and how you are feeling and the state of your health.
Updated July 22, 2022
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 phytonutrients in general 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. As science has discovered, what helps digestion helps with brain health.
An Apple a Day…
I learned this cooked apple recipe from my Ayurvedic teacher, Vaidya R. K. Mishra, whose Ayurvedic family lineage, Shaka Vansiya Ayurveda (SVA) has been passed down from one generation to another for centuries. 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 like a health manual of what to do and what not to do to maintain health and prevent disease. SV Ayurveda or SVA brings authentic teachings of Ayurveda by shining light on the sutras, as modern science uncovers its knowledge and gradually reintroduce the practical applications of Ayurveda into the modern world.
This cooked apple is a simple, yet profound introduction to Ayurvedic cooking that promotes a healthy gut. Modern science is discovering, what is good for the gut is good for brain health.
Cooking vs Raw
Apples contain fibre and pectin- great for digestion, and also 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. Fibre supports digestion and elimination, while pectin acts as a prebiotic. Prebiotics are food for the probiotics, acting like a fertilizer for the friendly bacteria to thrive.
Cooking the apple is more gentle on the tummy, than raw, and at breakfast time we want to be easy on the tummy. Raw food requires robust digestion, and not all the compounds in raw vegetables can be broken down and absorbed by the human body. In fact, raw vegetables contain compounds that inhibit mineral absorption, as researchers have discovered with leafy greens, vegetables, grains, legumes, beans, all of which contain “anti-nutrients”. But cooking the food releases these compounds, making them more assimilable for human digestion. Ayurveda has known that food needs to be cooked for human consumption for better digestion.
Ayurveda views that at breakfast time our digestive fire or agni is at its lowest and highest at lunch time, and dips down again after sunset. Therefore, lunch can be your biggest meal of the day, while breakfast and dinner comparatively is lighter and easier to digest. Adding cloves in this cooked apple recipe gently opens up physical, circulatory channels of the body, further promoting smoother digestion. Cloves are not aggravating to pitta dosha, making this recipe ideal.
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 bidirectionally 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 our health and happiness is dependent upon our ability to maintain positive mental, emotional and physical habits which in turn is dependent on the quality of our digestive system.
Ayurveda had outlined the relationship between the gut and brain, and calls it the apana-prana relationship. Apana and prana are two of the five sub-doshas or categories of vata dosha. I have seen this in practice, when apana vata and prana vata dosha are out of balance there are digestive issues, and symptoms such as anxiety, hyperactivity, or sleep issues. In Ayurveda, your body and mind are governed by the three doshas- vata, pitta, kapha. The source of the doshas are the five elements of nature- space, air, fire, water earth. Your doshas are affected by what you eat and do throughout the day, by the environment and your digestion.
Vata dosha is considered the “king of the doshas”. Pitta and kapha doshas cannot move in the body without vata. Vata governs all movement, circulation, timing, and flow of fluids, substances, thoughts, etc. of everything pertaining to body and mind. Pitta dosha is responsible for heat, transformation and metabolism, while kapha dosha governs structure, lubrication of the body including joints, the stomach, lungs, brain and spinal cord. Apana and prana vata are sub-categories of vata; apana is in the abdomen and prana vata is in the area of the head. prana vata is considered the main controller of all fifteen subdoshas. Prana vata imbalances create symptoms such 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. 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. Prana vata which governs the area the brain and head area responsible for your senses, thinking, creativity and reasoning.
A good place to start in keeping apana vata and prana vata balanced, and overall vata dosha is by maintaining a steady routine, don’t push your bed time past 10pm, eat fresh, warm, unctuous meals on time, try not to rush around too much and have daily quiet time.
When digestion is in good order ojas is made. According to Ayurveda, good digestion promotes optimum health. This apple recipe is good for digestion. Ojas is the last and finest product made after food has been properly digested, absorbed and assimilated which in the process makes all of our seven tissues- your physical body as classified in Ayurveda. Transformation of one tissue to the next follows this order: blood plasma (rasa), blood (rakta), muscle (mamsa), fat (meda), bone (asthi), bone marrow (majja), reproductive fluid (shukra), and then finally ojas is made. Ojas is what gives us mental and physical stamina and a strong immune system. Ojas also gives us a beautiful glow and aura, translated by Vaidya Mishra as the “neurotransmitters and hormones” of the human physiology. When digestion is not in good order, or eat food that is too heavy for your digestive system to digest, then ama is produced. Ama is partially digested food that clog up our physical channels. Examples of physical channels would be arteries and veins, lymphatic vessels, the digestive tract including the colon, right down to tiny capillaries.
This takes us to why good digestion and easy to digest food are necessary for overall health simply because if too much ama is being made, then not enough ojas is being produced which leads to a decline in neurotransmitters and hormones. Ama turns acidic in the body when it does not get cleared out in a timely manner. In Ayurveda, acidic ama is called amavisha; visha means poison. Evacuating amavisha safely out of the body requires preparing the physical channels first before their release. But this is another subject found in this blog.
Conclusion
As research points out, our health and happiness is largely dependent upon our mental, emotional and physical habits which in turn is dependent upon a complex network of chemical interactions, contained within the gut-brain axis. Ayurveda highlights the importance of the digestive system because improper digestion is the root cause of many diseases, and perhaps also a significant role in some mental health afflictions, as researchers learn more about the gut-brain axis. In Ayurveda, good digestion means less ama, less amavisha, and optimum production of ojas, translated as the neurotransmitters and hormones in SV Ayurveda, and as we know in modern science neurotransmitter and hormones carry out all of our physical and mental functions. In light of the apana-prana or the gut-brain relationship, whichever way you look at it, any nourishment being given to the belly synchronously nourishes the mind. Happy belly, happy mind.
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 in a small saucepan, add the apples and cloves 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.
Enjoy!
Caution- Consult your doctor before consuming if you have blood sugar issues.
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