Apple Tree Health Benefits

The all-popular fruit of the apple tree by itself is a true cornucopia of medicinal virtues and has been known for ages. Among these virtues, the digestive properties have been noted by the medical school of Salerno, which from the 10^th to the 13^th centuries wrote in Italy the following saying, quoted by Messegue: Post pirum da potum, post pomum vade cacatum (After pears, urine; after apples, feces).

Ernst Schneider healed diverse severe cases of dysentery, during the Second world war, with an apple diet lacking any other treatment, which allowed Dr. Schneider to discover the extraordinary healing properties of the fantastic fruit of the apple tree that is entirely medicinal. Apples are a medicinal food par excellence.

Apple Tree Scientific Facts

1. French: Pommier.
2. Spanish: Manzano.
3. Environment: The apple tree is native to western Asia, spread worldwide, both cultivated and wild (Malus silvestris Miller). The apple tree prefers cold climates and Northern continental regions.
4. Description: The apple tree is a member of the Rosaceae family and is of medium size, with white flowers and fleshy fruits, of which more than one thousand varieties are known.
5. Parts of the plant used medicinally: The fruits, the bark, and the flowers.

Healing Properties and Indications

Apples contain 12 to 15 percent of sugars (dextrose, levulose, and saccharose), less than 0.5 percent of proteins and fats; minerals (potassium, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, iron, and traces of sodium), vitamins A, B1, C, and niacin; malic, citric, and salicylic acids; tannin, with astringent properties; pectin, a hydrocarbon substance with absorbent and antidiarrheic properties, and high amounts of enzymes. The apple tree and its fruit has the following properties:

1. Antidiarrheic. Apples can absorb bacterial toxins produced on the intestine, besides drying and reducing the inflammation of its mucosa. Apples are helpful for any form of diarrhea, be it mild or severe, caused by colitis, whether dysentery (bleeding and mucus in feces). They render relevant results for enterocolitis caused by eating spoiled food (food poisoning), frequently produced by a micro-organism called salmonella. They are highly recommended for children’s gastroenteritis.
2. Laxative. Curiously, apples also have a regulating effect on the flora and the peristaltic movements of the intestine. This effect gives apples seemingly contradictory properties (antidiarrheic and laxative). When taken in the morning on an empty stomach, apples render relevant results for chronic or habitual constipation.
3. Diuretic and depurative. Due to their ability to absorb intestinal toxins, apples give good results for chronic eczema of the skin, which is sometimes caused by auto-immune system depression. Moreover, apples promote eliminating uric acid, urea, and other metabolic waste, thus being recommended for people who have arthritis, rheumatism, gout, and kidney stones.
        Due to their low sodium content, apples (as well as rice) are recommended to be included in the diet of people suffering from high blood pressure. With this, good results will be achieved in decreasing arterial pressure and reducing edema caused by liquid retention.
4. Hypolipemic. Apple pectin absorbs bile salts from the intestine, thus reducing one of our body’s raw materials used to produce cholesterol. However, long periods of treatment (more than three months) eating two or three apples daily are required to achieve any result, besides following other dietary measures against cholesterol.
5. Invigorating and stabilizer of the nervous system. Perhaps this action is due to its phosphorus content. It is recommended for excitation, nervousness, stress, and mental fatigue. The effects rendered are gentle and slow but secure and steady.

The fruit of the apple tree is excellent medicinal food in all chronic ailments such as digestive and respiratory afflictions, arteriosclerosis, arthritis, hepatopathy (liver afflictions), kidney disorders, obesity, cardiopathy (heart afflictions), high blood pressure. It is also recommended to delay the aging process.

Apple tree bark has invigorating febrifuge and astringent properties. It has been used as a substitute substance for quinine. Presently, it is used for infectious diseases, as a febrifuge and invigorating substance, and in recovery stages.

Apple tree flowers and leaves are diuretics. They are recommended for kidney stones, nephritis ( kidney inflammation), and arterial hypertension.

Apple Treatments

Apple treatment: To reinforce its benefits from all indications given, we recommend that you take, over three to five days, one or two kg of apples as your only food. They can be eaten grated, cooked, or baked without sugar. This treatment must be repeated two to four times a year.

Kempner diet: During a whole month, consume only apples and rice, preferably together. The results are excellent for hypertension, excess cholesterol, obesity, and kidney affections.

How to use the Apple Tree

1. Raw apples (grated) and also roasted or boiled. From half to one kg daily. Unless they come from organic cultivations, it is better to peel them, thus not being treated with insecticides or other chemical products.
2. Juice. A glass of juice daily at breakfast ensures good physical results. It can be mixed with lemon or carrot juice to achieve a better revitalizing effect.
3. Decoction. Two sliced apples boiled in one liter of water for half an hour. The resulting liquid, sweetened if desired, is recommended for weakened ill people before starting any solid diet.
4. Bark decoction, prepared with 50-100 g of apple tree bark per liter of water. Drink from three to five cups daily as an invigorating, febrifuge, and astringent.
5. Decoction of leaves and flowers, with 50 g per liter of water. Drink four to five cups daily as a diuretic.

REFERENCES

• George D. Pamplona-Roger, M.D. “Encyclopedia of Medicinal Plants.” George D. Pamplona-Roger, M.D. Encyclopedia of Medicinal Plants. Ed. Francesc X. Gelabert. vols. 2 San Fernando de Henares: Editorial Safeliz, 2000. 513, 514. Print.

Last update on 2023-09-30 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API