Antioxidants in Apples

Yep, the old adage is true: An apple a day keeps the doctor away!

A recent article on MSNBC touts the pectin and antioxidant flavonoid content of apples, thus helping lower the risk of heart disease and cancer. Nothing new there, but if you want a primer on how antioxidants work, the article is a good start. Still I would like to draw your attention to the last part:

Processing, however, does lower the amount of flavonoid, so apples themselves contain more antioxidants than apple juice or applesauce. Besides snacking on apples out of hand, try them in green and fruit salads and cooked with vegetables such as carrots, winter squash and sweet potatoes.

And don’t peel them. The flavonoids are said to be most concentrated just beneath the skin. Still, apple is a good healthy drink. It may not pack the same amount as eating apples themselves, but it’s still better than nothing. Besides, some of us (my son, in particular) can down liters of apple juice!
Now if you prefer apple juice, try the “cloudy” type. The are unclarified, and are said to contain still more antioxidants than the clear types.