Almonds and Apples are two powerful superfoods that can be eaten and enjoyed as part of a healthy diet. However, there are conditions in which a superfood is particularly valuable – and you will find these conditions indicated alongside it.
ALMONDS
Almonds are a highly concentrated food, rich in protein, fat, and vital minerals like zinc, magnesium, potassium, and iron, as well as some B vitamins. Since they are also high in oxalic and phytic acid, which is complex with these minerals to carry them out of your body, you should eat them at the same time as vitamin-C-rich foods for maximum absorption. Almonds are 20 percent protein – weight for weight, they have a third more protein than eggs.
The oil in almonds is especially soothing, and almond milk is a classic sickroom drink, both sustaining and soothing, recommended by herbalists for respiratory ailments as well as digestive upsets. Almond milk can be combined with barley water for urinary problems. Dr. Walnut has a recipe for almond milk: Soak 50g/20z whole almonds in tepid water than skin them; pound them – you can do this in a food processor – with 11/2pints water. Add the paste to the rest of the water, stir in a tablespoonful of honey, and strain through muslin.
APPLE
If you could plant only one tree in your garden, it should be an apple tree,” says famous French herbalist Maurice Messegue. And we all know what an apple a day does to your doctor’s income. So what’s in an apple? A bonus for your heart: the pectin and vitamin C in apples help keep cholesterol levels stable, as US studies have shown; pectin also protects us from the ravages of pollution, binding to heavy metals like lead or mercury in the body and carrying them safely out.
The malic and tartaric acids in apples help neutralize the acid by-products of indigestion, and help your body cope with excess protein or rich fatty foods: apple purée with pork, apples With cheese, or sage and apple stuffing for use are traditional combinations based on country wisdom.
Because of these qualities, apples are great detoxifiers, and those suffering from arthritis, rheumatism, or gout should eat raw apples regularly, while a mono-fast on apples alone for a day or two – can be warmly recommended for those suffering from diarrhea, enter colitis, or mucous colitis. It’s also a marvelous general pick-me-up after the excesses of a holiday or festive season or a debilitating bout of flu.
It was the observation of an apple cure at work that led Dr. Bircher-Benner to his discovery of the healing powers in raw food. On the advice of an old doctor, he fed a grated raw apple to a patient whose digestive problems had brought her close to death: it was the first food she was able to take in weeks, and after a few days of the apple cure, she was well on the way to recovery. Apples as Bircher-Benner realized are first-class therapy for any digestive problems or infections, both soothing and antiseptic in their action.
In a fascinating series of tests described by Jean Carper in The Food Pharmacy, virologist Dr. Jack Konowalchuk and colleague Joan Speirs from Canada’s Bureau of Microbial Hazards exposed a wide range of viruses in tissue-cell Cultures to a number of different fruit-juice extracts 1ncluding blueberry, cranberry, grape, plum, pomegranate, and raspberry, strawberry and apple juice taken off a Supermarket shelf. After 24-hour exposure, almost none of the viruses survived. The researchers remained unsure just what substances in the apple- pulp, juice, or skin – had this direct: certainly, they’re present even in the commercial juice.
In a French study, eating two apples a day resulted in an average drop in cholesterol levels of up to 10 percent. In fact, there are few health problems that couldn’t be improved by eating a whole apple a day, peel and all, thoroughly washed and well chewed.
