Autumn brings apples – lots of them. Tree limbs are weighed down with a rainbow array of green Granny Smiths, red and golden delicious, deep red macoun, Jonathans, winesaps, pink lady, gala, and Arkansas black. Abundant in the fall, they arrive just as the air is crispy and dry, and the smell of freshly baked apple pie announces the transition from summer to winter.
In Ayurveda, apples are abundant in the fall for a reason – they move the heat of summer out of your cells in time for winter; in so doing, your immunity is higher. You have less chance of infectious stuff like the flu and common cold. Yet, how they are prepared before eating can have different effects – according to this thousands year old medicine system of yoga.
If you tend toward dryness – as in dry skin, dry eyes, constipation – eating a raw apple will add to the dryness. So, cook it – core and bake apples with soothing ghee (clarified butter) and warming spices like cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves in the center. Make applesauce (leave the skins on). Cut an apple, microwave it for a couple of minutes, then top it with plain yogurt and maple syrup.
If you have a strong appetite, eat them raw. Or with a caramel coating, like I find offered as treats in the apple orchards of New England (I can’t wait to get there). For fun, place them in a large barrel filled with water and see who can bob for the most apples.
As they say, an apple a day keeps the doctor away. The sages have known this for years. Grab your jacket – let’s go apple picking!
