Apple Cider: Are There Health Benefits?

It doesn’t get much better than going to an apple orchard to handpick apples, except maybe enjoying a cup of fresh-squeezed apple cider.

You often hear people referring to apple cider as apple juice and vice versa. While both products contain juice squeezed from apples, the process is a bit different. Apple cider is juiced apples. It still has some pulp, as well as more vitamins and minerals. It may or may not be pasteurized, which is the process of heating the liquid to a certain temperature to kill bacteria. Apple juice, on the other hand, is filtered juice that’s been heated to 190 F during processing.

Cider in the U.S. is different from cider in other countries. While it typically refers to fresh-squeezed, unfiltered apple juice in the states, “cider” in other parts of the world refers to an alcoholic beverage that most Americans know as “hard cider”

Apple cider has many of the same nutrients as fresh apples. As it’s only the juice, the amounts are smaller. Still, cider does have some amazing health benefits.