An apple a day keeps the doctor away -- and according to new research, so could a pint of cider. Fancy that, in a study funded by cider manufacturers, just at a time when cider is trying to shrug off its park bench image.
Cider, like red wine, may contain some polyphenolic antioxidants that have health benefits. Research into the health benefits of red wine was prompted by the "French paradox", but somehow I can't see stereotypical cider-drinkers being identified as paragons of long-term health...
Cider, of course, also contains ethanol that the liver turns into acetaldehyde (nasty toxic stuff), en route to converting it to acetic acid thanks to the enzyme acetaldehyde dehydrogenase. Just hope your acetaldehyde dehydrogenase is working ok (and that you don't swamp it with too much acetaldehyde at one go by bingeing), otherwise you're stuck with the acetaldehyde for a while, which makes you feel like crap.
Incidentally, if cider pips are pressed as part of cider making, it will also naturally contain traces of hydrogen cyanide. But you would have to drink such vast quantities that you would suffer respiratory failure from the ethanol before the cyanide became a problem. So hey, I'll have a glass, but no ice in mine, please.
