Protecting your brain from oxidative damage

Want to keep your brain on its toes?  Then you may want to keep in mind that old adage about "an apple a day … ."

According to new research from the University of Massachusetts, Lowell, eating apples and drinking apple juice may improve memory and learning.  Professor Thomas Shea's new work indicates that apple juice may protect the brain against oxidative damage that contributes to age-related disorders, such as Alzheimer's disease, and may help maintain brain performance.

This research indicates that eating apples and drinking apple juice may impact our brain health and mental acuity throughout life.

Shea's animal study, "Apple Juice Prevents Oxidative Stress Induced by Amyloid-Beta in Culture", was published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease.

Acres USA, May 2004

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Not all apples are created equal

Apple juices

A very important consideration here — something you must always bear in mind — is that not all apple juice you find in the store is created equal.  Most juices are reconstituted from concentrates.  This gives the double whammy of degrading the quality of the juice from over-processing and the contamination factor of the water used for reconstitution.

An example from my personal experience: Some years ago, I had the flu and thought I'd help my recovery by drinking lots of grapefruit juice.  But after ten days, I was just getting worse and worse.  I was about ready to head to the doctor when I noticed that my grapefruit juice was made from concentrate.  Read that "Loaded with fluoride".

I already knew that fluoride was a serious problem with me.  I'd never have used that juice if I had known it was reconstituted.  But fluoride — and its immune system-destroying properties — is only one of the problems associated with from-concentrate juices.  You also have to deal with the chlorine compounds used to treat the water.  These destroy the gut flora, compromising digestion and detoxification while wrecking your immunity, leaving you open to various pathogens and a host of other problems.

So, I dumped the juice, and in a day or two I was feeling fine.

However, fluoride and chlorine aren't the only problems with reconstituted juices.  Live blood analysis often shows a clumping together of blood cells after the ingestion of reconstituted juices.  This is generally because of added sugars or solvents and contaminants that get into those juices as part of the reconstitution process.

A difference in apples

There is also a major difference between apples and apples.  Most apples you find in the store are not organic.  They are loaded with chemicals from production; and, to make them look appealing to the consumer and give them a crisp sensation, apples are often colored and coated in plastic before they're put in the grocery bins.

This is an important consideration, since the effects of these petrochemicals act in direct opposition to the benefits you're trying to achieve with the apples.  It's like shooting yourself in the foot to alleviate a headache.

Something else: Most produce is harvested "green" — before fully ripened.  But, it's in those last stages of ripening that most of the beneficial phyto-chemicals go into the plant.  The result is what one author calls "the empty harvest."

When you add long-term storage to this equation, your apples are seriously lacking in much of what they are supposed to provide.

The solution: buy organic

The point is: Buy organic, whenever possible.  It may cost more — up front, at least — and may not look so pretty; but the benefits are worth it.

If you can't buy organic, think about drinking a super antioxidant juice.  You'll be glad you did.