Who would have thought it, ‘an apple a day keeps the doctor away’ or ‘an apple a day keeps the dentist away’, have you heard these sayings and could there be some truth in them? How many thought they were just old wives’ tales, that almost borderline a fable, with the claim to apple superpower? How many thought it was just a ploy by a parent to get you to eat fruit? How many just completely ignored it, fell on deaf ears as they say?  Well, are they just old wives’ tales? In short, the answer is no! There has probably never been no truer saying… Oh, and we’ve thrown in 2 recipes to get you started and explained a little bit of why. 

Recipe One: Apple Peel & Almond Date Balls 

These tasty date balls are the perfect way to add some fibre to your diet. With no added salt or sugar, these are sure to become a favourite household snack.

Ingredients

150g pitted dates

55g almonds

55g cashew nuts

60g dried cranberries

2tsp Layer Origin Nutrition’s Apple Peel Powder

½ tsp vanilla extract

½ tsp almond extract

Disclaimer:Please note this recipe contains nuts.

Serves

10 servings @ 33g

Preparation instructions

• Take a baking tray or a plate and line with greaseproof/baking paper or cling film.
• Add the nuts to a food processor and blend until roughly ground.
• Next add the dates and cranberries and blend until well mixed.  
• Now add the vanilla extract, almond extract and apple peel powder and blend together until you can no longer see the apple peel powder on the side of the food processor bowl. It should resemble a soft, doughy like texture. Using your hands, roll the dough into 10 equal sized balls and place them on your lined plate or tray.
• Place the tray into the fridge to allow firm up and set for at least 2 hours.
• Once set, store the balls in a fridge-friendly food bag or wrap them individually in greaseproof paper and gift to friends and family!  

Recipe Two: Slow Oats With Apple Peel 

The perfect healthy breakfast packed with flavour, fibre, and an antioxidative punch. 

Ingredients

1 grated apple

50g oats

20g dried cranberries

100g fat free Greek yoghurt

100ml cold water

15g of roughly chopped nuts (we used almonds)

20g seeds (flaxseeds, sesame, pumpkin)

2 scoops Layer Origin Nutrition’s Apple Peel Powder

½ tsp ground cinnamon 

Serves

2 servings @ 185g  

Preparation 

• Add the oats, nuts, grated apple, cranberries, cinnamon, apple peel powder and seeds to a mixing bowl.
• Toss them all together.
• Next add the yoghurt and water to the mix and stir well.
• Transfer to a container, cover and leave overnight in the fridge.
• Serve with your choice of toppings, such as freshly sliced banana, dried fruit, or a squeeze of honey. 

Now let's sit back and explain a little bit of why apple peels are so good.... 

Apples and Antioxidants

Scrolling through online polls looking for the worlds most favourite fruit you will see apples are listed in the top five. But change that to healthiest, and in several, it pips the top slot (excuse the pun). This will surely become more and more of a trend with emerging research demonstrating just how powerful the antioxidant capabilities of apples are, especially in the peel.

Consuming high levels of antioxidants has been linked to decreased risk of chronic oxidative stresses from diseases such as cardiovascular, cancer and their related deaths, as well as reduction a in joint inflammation and pain and more is coming to light[i].  

Antioxidants have also been shown to be influential in combating cell damage and are therefore crucial in the role of disease prevention[ii]. With regard to the antioxidants in apple peel, research is already available that showing dried apple peel powder (DAPP) possesses antiproliferative (suppress cell growth) effects against a multiple of cancer cell types. There is also evidence that DAPP has powerful antioxidant capabilities that have been shown to combat joint inflammation and thus reducing chronic pain.  It is these two areas that we will investigate in this article.

What does the research say

In a 2010 study by Reagan-Shaw et al entitled Antiproliferative Effects of Apple Peel Extract (APE) Against Cancer Cells, apple peel powder, in this case specifically organic Gala apples, was seen to show a marked reduction in the successful production of a variety of cancer cell lines (types of cancer).

This was seen in clonogenic survival of carcinoma DU145 and CWR22Rv1 of human prostate cells, and in Mcf-7:Her18 and Mcf-7 breast carcinoma cells. Along with these was also a G0-G1 phase arrest (halting progression) of both prostate and breast cells, and a substantial decrease in concentration-dependent protein levels of proliferative cell nuclear antigen which is a marker of proliferation.

A known tumour suppressing protein called maspin was seen to increase in levels. Maspin has a negative reaction to the regulation of cell invasion, the formation of new blood cells, (angiogenesis) and the spreading of the cancer (metastasis).

The study concluded that the data suggested APE possessed strong antiproliferative effects to cancer cells[iii].

In another study by Jensen et al (2014) entitled Consumption of Dried Apple Peel Powder Increases Joint Function and Range of Motion, the anti-inflammatory capabilities of apple peel powder were again assessed. The study had 12 participants, all healthy but experienced loss of joint range of motion (ROM) and pain.  

The study was conducted over 12-weeks with 2-, 4-, 8- and 12-week evaluations. Each participant consumed 4.25g of DAPP daily for the 12 weeks. At each evaluation ROM was measured, pain scores were taken and bloods to assess level of serum antioxidant protective capacity. There was also additional in vitrotesting conducted which included:

• cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and lipoxygenase inhibition
• cellular antioxidant protection by the CAP-e bioassay, and formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) by polymorphonuclear (PMN) cells by flow cytometry

The study results showed that having consumed DAPP for the 12-week period demonstrated improvement in the ROM. The serum antioxidant protective status saw a significant improvement that was associated with the DAPP entering and protecting cells from oxidative damage.

DAPP was also seen to inhibit both lipoxygenase enzymes and COX-2 with a pre-treatment anti-inflammatory effect to the PMN cells and a reduction in the formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS).

In conclusion, it suggested that there were multifaceted anti-inflammatory properties within DAPP. Consumption of the apple peel powder for 12 weeks was associated with improved joint function and participants benefited from improvement in the serum antioxidant protection status, all of which could be linked to the anti-inflammatory effects of apple polyphenols[iv].

Conclusion

With antioxidants being so important in the control and combat of chronic diseases, it would appear from the evidence gleaned from these two studies, the common apple packs a mighty antioxidant punch.

Published scientifically researched evidence into the powerful antioxidants that, particularly, apple peel possesses, is highlighting just how important this very popular fruit actually is.  

Cancer, heart disease, joint pain to name just a few looks like they have a mighty nemesis in this little fruit. We, of course, are the beneficiaries of their consumption, so why not give it a go and start now with these two delicious prevention and repair apple peel powder recipes. 

Written by Nu-Tee who is passionate about all things nutritional and bacterial, especially in the gut.

References: 

[i] https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/antioxidants/#:~:text=Epidemiological%20prospective%20studies%20show%20that,and%20deaths%20from%20all%20causes.

[ii] https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/antioxidants-in-depth

[iii] Reagan-Shaw, S. Eggert, D, Mukhtar H & Ahmad, N. (2010) Antiproliferative Effects of Apple Peel Extract Against Cancer Cells, Nutrition and Cancer, 62:4, 517-524, DOI: 10.1080/01635580903441253

[iv] Jensen GS, Attridge VL, Benson KF, Beaman JL, Carter SG, Ager D. Consumption of dried apple peel powder increases joint function and range of motion. J Med Food. 2014 Nov;17(11):1204-13. doi: 10.1089/jmf.2014.0037. Epub 2014 Oct 1. PMID: 25271471; PMCID: PMC4224039.