Are ciders healthy for you?

As antioxidants, the polyphenols in apple cider can help fight free radicals in the body, reducing the likelihood of oxidative stress and cell damage. These polyphenols also help reduce the risk of certain types of cancer, such as colon cancer, prostate cancer and breast cancer.

Are ciders healthy for you?

As antioxidants, the polyphenols in apple cider can help fight free radicals in the body, reducing the likelihood of oxidative stress and cell damage. These polyphenols also help reduce the risk of certain types of cancer, such as colon cancer, prostate cancer and breast cancer. According to Cider Craft Magazine, there are three health benefits that come from drinking hard cider: antioxidants, vitamin C and gluten-free. WebMD suggests that apple cider specifically contains polyphenols, which act as antioxidants.

What does this mean for you? Our source explains that the polyphenols in apple cider can help the body fight free radicals and cell damage, reducing the risk of certain types of cancer, diabetes, and heart disease. Polyphenols also help relieve inflammation in the body. Be sure to buy hard cider with at least six percent alcohol by volume and avoid commercial flavored ciders, because they have a shorter shelf life. While cider and beer aren't the first thing that comes to mind when someone talks about healthy drinks, some research indicates that drinking the right types of cider and beer minimizes the impacts of alcohol on the body.

No matter how you cut it, apple cider has a robust and seemingly unlimited amount of potential flavors and types. Cider has an advantage over a beer in some comparisons, especially when drinking artisanal cider that has not been mass-produced. As a result, it usually has fewer carbohydrates than cider, which makes it a little “healthier”, even though the number of calories remains approximately the same. One reason for the addition is that bitter flavors help balance the sweetness of hard cider, producing a more mature and aromatic finish.

It all depends on the style of the cider, if it is a fully fermented dry cider, it will not contain sugar at all. It's not useless, it's desperate. Most standard hard apple ciders are made without the use of hops, so if you're sensitive to the cone-shaped flowers of the hop plant, you can order cider without having to explain your often unheard of allergy to anyone. The legendary Johnny Appleseed didn't go around handing out seeds to big red apples they ate; what he spread were seeds for small, ugly, sour apples suitable for making cider.

If you don't like the taste of hops (or have a gluten allergy), be sure to check your cider to see if hops are included or not. As colonies began to form, settlers preferred not to drink the stale water that was often all that was available and that they stopped consuming cider. From a purely health standpoint, ciders seem to have a lot more going for them, but let's be honest, you're not going to drink ciders (or beers) because they're healthy. Cider is also rich in nutrients, as it contains pectin, B vitamins, biotin, folic acid and, unlike beer, vitamin C.

Apple juice and apple cider can take you back to childhood or thrill you with the coming autumn days in the pumpkin patch with your own children in tow. Cider has an alcohol content similar to beer, and most ciders range from 4.5 percent to 10 percent alcohol by volume.

Ernie Summitt
Ernie Summitt

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