How much truth is there in the saying, ‘An apple a day keeps the doctor away’?

How much truth is there in the saying, ‘An apple a day keeps the doctor away’?

The saying, ‘An apple a day keeps the doctor away’ was written in Wales in 1913.

The polyphenols and phytochemicals found in apples help reduce the risk of diseases such as heart disease, cancer, diabetes and obesity.

Research has shown that regular apple consumption can improve cholesterol and glucose levels, but a complete nutritious diet is necessary to stay healthy.

‘An apple a day keeps the doctor away.’ This saying is very popular. Apples are very popular all over the world. Apples, which come in different colors and flavors, are said to help us stay healthy.

The saying ‘An apple a day keeps the doctor away’ comes from a Welsh proverb written in 1913, which states, ‘Eat an apple before bed, and keep the doctor away.’

Are apples better for your health than other fruits?

Apples are a good source of phytochemicals, including flavanols. They provide many benefits. They help keep your heart healthy and help you lose weight. It is clear that these elements reduce the risk of heart disease.

Why are apples so good for your health?

Apples contain a variety of polyphenols, including anthocyanins. This element gives the skin of apples their red color and helps keep your heart healthy.

Phloridzin is another polyphenol found in apples. It has been found to be useful in controlling blood glucose levels.

Apples are rich in fiber, the highest of which is pectin. This fiber reduces the amount of low-density lipoprotein LDL, the bad cholesterol, in the blood.

Pectin reduces the sugar and fat we take in from food. It keeps blood glucose levels stable. These nutrients found in apples seem to be effective in keeping the body healthy.

According to the results of a review of five studies conducted in 2013, eating apples regularly can reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes by up to 23 percent.

According to another review of 10 studies conducted in 2022, eating apples or drinking apple juice can lower cholesterol levels. But this is only effective when this habit is maintained for more than a week.

In general, a nutritious diet reduces the risk of cancer by up to 20 percent. Bioactive compounds and phytochemicals found in nutritious foods help reduce this risk. But the big question is, are apples better than other plant-based foods?

Janet Colson, a professor of nutrition and food science at Middle Tennessee University in the US, says, “Apples are not very rich in vitamin C. They are also not very rich in iron and calcium. But they have many other elements that are effective in maintaining good health.”

Flavia Guzzo, an associate professor in the Department of Plant Biology at the University of Verona in Italy, says, “Apples contain many such compounds that are also found in other fruits and vegetables. These compounds also include beneficial polyphenols.

Polyphenols are powerful antioxidant molecules. They help balance the ratio of antioxidants and free radicals in our body. Free radicals are oxygen molecules that react rapidly and damage cells.

By controlling free radicals, we can prevent the development of cancer and heart disease in the long term. Apples can reduce problems such as cancer, asthma, diabetes and obesity.

According to some researchers, apples contain more antioxidants than other fruits. It is the second-largest fruit in terms of antioxidants.

Apples are also a good source of phenolic compounds, which are another form of phytochemicals. According to one study, Americans meet 22 percent of their phenolic needs from apples. According to research, phenolic compounds found in apples can reduce problems such as heart disease, cancer, asthma, diabetes, and obesity.

The reason scientists recommend eating apples over other fruits is not because they contain powerful polyphenols and antioxidants. The reason they recommend eating apples is because they are easily available and within the reach of most people.

It is clear that apples have the ability to improve our health. It is a big claim to say that eating an apple a day can keep the doctor away.

A study conducted in 2015 answers this question. Researchers studied 8,399 people, asking them what they had eaten in the past 24 hours.

The study found that people who ate apples were less likely to see a doctor than those who didn't. But the results aren't statistically significant, as apple eaters are more likely to be educated and likely to be non-smokers.

'Eat an apple a day, stay away from the pharmacist'

There was no significant association between eating an apple a day and the likelihood of seeing a doctor, says Matthew Davis, an assistant professor of epidemiology at the Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine in New Hampshire, USA.

"Our analysis suggests that people who eat apples are generally healthier," he says.

But the researchers found that people who eat apples a day are less likely to be dependent on medication. This finding remained significant even when the participants were analyzed based on their socioeconomic status.

So  The research suggests that the proverb could be modified slightly: ‘Eat an apple a day, keep out the pharmacist.’

However, Davis has some reservations about the ‘apple a day’ adage. He says that there may be other reasons why he and his colleagues did not find a strong link between eating an apple a day and seeing the doctor.

‘The underlying idea behind the adage is that people only go to the doctor when they are sick,’ says Davis, ‘but people also go to the doctor for annual checkups and preventive care.’

He says that the idea that eating apples is not enough to keep you from seeing the doctor is not wrong. Davis makes it clear that eating more than just apples is important for staying healthy.

Colson agrees.

The ‘apple a day’ adage, Colson says, is about people regularly eating plant-based foods. Apples are a good example of this because they are readily available, affordable, and can be stored for a long time.

How many apples should you eat a day?

Other research has also shown that eating an apple a day can have health benefits. But this only happens when people eat more than one apple a day.

A study found that eating three apples a day helped people lose weight. In a study published in 2020, researchers took 40 participants who had slightly high cholesterol levels and divided them into two groups.

One group was asked to eat two apples a day, while the other group was given an apple drink with the same calories. The experiment lasted for eight weeks, and the participants did not change their diet other than eating apples or apple drinks.

The cholesterol levels of the participants who ate apples were found to be significantly lower at the end of the study. However, one weakness of the study was that it only had 40 participants, which is less than the sample size needed to draw any major conclusions.

Another study showed that eating three apples a day can help with weight loss and improve blood glucose levels. This study was conducted on women who weighed more than 40 kg.

When it comes to the best way to eat apples, researchers say that the best way to eat apples is to leave the skin on, as the skin contains many nutrients and antioxidants.

“You should eat apples with the skin on,” says Flavia Guzzo, “because that’s where most of the polyphenols in the apple are found.” According to her, the older the apple, the better the new variety.

In 2022, she and her colleagues published a research paper that studied an ancient apple called ‘Pom Pruscian’ found in northern Italy. This variety was found to contain more polyphenols than modern apples.

“But when new apple varieties are developed, they usually focus on other qualities, such as size, flavor, and tree vigor,” she says. “When it comes to color, it doesn’t really matter. The color of the skin of an apple is red or green.”

Eating an apple a day may not reduce the need for doctor visits, but it can certainly have an impact on overall health and long-term medication dependency.

“Eating an apple a day is beneficial, but only when it’s part of a diet that includes a variety of plant-based foods,” says Gozo. “Because that’s the real foundation of good health.”