Apples Pack More Punch
An apple a day also may keep away memory loss, asthma, cancer, diabetes, heart disease, stroke and tooth loss. Crisp, new details:
Memory. Drinking 2 cups of apple juice or eating two to three apples a day may boost production of acetylcholine, often lacking in Alzheimer’s patients. When University of Massachusetts Lowell researchers gave apple juice concentrate to elderly mice with Alzheimer’s-like symptoms, they did better on learning maze tests and had more acetylcholine.
Cancer. An Italian study showed that eating at least an apple a day cut risk of cancer of the mouth and pharynx by 21%; esophagus, 25%; colon, 20%; breast, 18%; ovaries, 15%; prostate, 9%.
Asthma. Apples are rich in an antioxidant called apigenin that, in animal tests in Japan, suppressed responses leading to asthma and allergies. Apigenin also is found in beans, broccoli, celery, cherries, grapes, onions and parsley.
Diabetes. Harvard investigators found that women who ate an apple a day were 28% less likely to develop type 2 diabetes than women who ate none.
Heart. Eating apples may help stifle blood clots and plaque in arteries, which lead to heart disease. Example: Eating two more apples or 1 1/2 cups of 100% apple juice a day slowed changes in bad LDL cholesterol that contribute to artery-clogging plaque, says University of California-Davis research. And European studies suggest less fatal heart disease and 40% fewer strokes in apple eaters.
Teeth. Harvard epidemiologists say men who stopped eating apples were more apt to lose their teeth.
Fresh apples provide significant amounts of quercetin, a flavonoid with potent anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. Our new Multi Nutrient Formula GOLD is packed with super antioxidants including 500 mg of quercetin in a single dose, the equivalent of eating upwards of 50 apples. See related items below.
This EatSmart column is reprinted from USAWEEKEND Magazine and is copyrighted by Jean Carper. It cannot be reprinted without permission from Jean Carper.
