An Apple A Day Update

An Apple A Day Update. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Fruit Grower Report.

Yes the phrase an apple a day has been used a lot but new research is proving that it’s not some trite old saying. In fact it just might help keep the cardiologist away. Lacy Gray has more on the story.

Greg, a new study out of Ohio State showed that healthy, middle-aged adults who consumed one apple a day for four weeks saw a 40 percent decrease in blood levels of a substance linked to hardening of the arteries. Low-Density Lipoproteins or LDL are the “bad” cholesterol’s that when they become oxidized are the beginnings of atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries. Lead researcher Robert DiSilvestro, professor of human nutrition at Ohio State University described daily apple consumption as significantly more effective at lowering oxidized LDL than other antioxidants he has studied, including the spice-based compound curcumin, green tea and tomato extract.

Thanks Lacy. DiSilvestro first became interested in studying the health effects of eating an apple a day after reading a Turkish study that found such a regimen increased the amount of a specific antioxidant enzyme in the body. For the study, the researchers recruited nonsmoking healthy adults between the ages of 40 and 60 who had a history of eating apples less than twice a month and who didn't take supplements containing polyphenols or other plant-based concentrates.

That’s today’s Fruit Grower Report. I’m Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.