Health benefits of apple

The Many Health & Beauty Benefits of Apples

Heart Health

For as long as I can remember, apples have had a heart healthy reputation. Now, short-term and long-term research studies have explained the reasons why that reputation is well-deserved.

According to multiple studies that have taken place over the past several years, drinking 12 oz. of apple juice each day reduces oxidation of LDL (low-density lipoproteins – the bad cholesterol) by 20%, while eating two whole apples a day has a reduction of 9%. This is a very important discovery, because LDL cholesterol oxidation activates the formation of plaque on coronary artery walls. There was no explanation for why the juice was more effective than whole apples, but I think it’s reasonable to assume that more than two apples are needed to make 12 ounces of apple juice.

In a long-term research study, led by Dr. Victor Fulgoni, PhD. (the Iowa Women’s Health Study), which tracked more than 34,000 older Caucasian women for 18 years, a link between apple consumption and a lowered risk of dying from cardiovascular and coronary heart diseases was discovered.

I am aware that this research study is highly controversial, as there are many who believe that this particular study was conducted for the sole purpose of discrediting nutritional supplements. However, anyone who has actually read the study can plainly see that it actually disproved what some claimed was proven. That fact alone gives the data collected credibility. In any case, I see no valid reason to disregard the apple and heart disease mortality findings, particularly when you factor in the results of other recent studies, which don’t just demonstrate the causality between apple consumption and lowered heart disease rates, but explains them.

Another example of this would be the study the Department of Nutrition, Food and Exercise Sciences at The Florida State University, in Tallahassee, presented at Experimental Biology 2011, in Washington, D.C.. The researchers recruited 160 women and randomly selected which would eat daily servings of dried apples and which would eat the dried plums (prunes).

The participants received blood tests at 3 months, 6 months and 12 months. Each time the researchers looked for the markers of heart health. After one year, the women in the apple group experienced a 14% drop in their total cholesterol. Their LDL cholesterol was reduced by an average of 23%. In addition, levels of lipid hydroperoxide, a biochemical involved in the formation of heart-clogging plaques, and C-reactive protein, which is a marker of inflammation, decreased by approximately 1/3. Another benefit was that the women had lost an average of three pounds by the end of that year.

This study’s results are consistent with the other 80+ studies conducted since 2005, ALL of which suggest that apples are highly beneficial to heart health.

Bowel Health

Dietary fiber is necessary to the health of your bowels and the shape of your stools. And, as everyone knows, apples are dense with fiber; and a lot of it is contained in the skin. One medium-sized apple (malus domestica) contains approximately 2.4 grams of dietary fiber.

Fiber-filled foods like apples benefit bowel health, because the fiber helps bind together the bits of food in your small intestines as they move along to the colon, while also drawing water to the stool to make it softer and easier to pass. Apples act as a natural cleanser for the bowels, keeping the digestive system working properly. This is extremely important, because, to quote Dr. Bernard Jensen, “It is an indisputable fact that not only illness and old age but even death itself are due to the accumulation of waste products (within the body)… to the inability of the body to replenish its cellular structures and organs with fresh, vital nutrients.”

Nothing demonstrates the truth of that quote better than colon cancer. Colon cancer is the #2 cancer killer among women, world-wide, and the #3 cancer killer of men, world-wide. Fortunately, apples aren’t just useful for prevention. A recent study demonstrated that Oligosaccharides from apples killed up to 46% of cancer cells in a human colon, outperforming the most popular chemotherapy drug on the market by a wide margin, at every dose level and without the toxic side-effects of the drug.

Hair Health

In 2002, Japanese researchers at the Tsukuba Research Laboratory in Tsukuba, Japan discovered two natural compounds that aided hair growth. One of those compounds, Procyanidin B-2, came from unripe apples. Procyanidin B-2, a B type proanthocyanidin (a class of polyphenol- flavonoid), appears to control proteins in a way that makes new hair growth possible.

The first clinical study treated 29 balding men with apple Procyanidin B- 2. After 6 months, it was discovered that both vellus (“baby” hair) and terminal (regular/long) hair growth in the Procyanidin B-2 group was “significantly greater” than that of the placebo control group. This proved to be true in all known studies conducted with apple Procyanidin B-2.

In at least one of those studies, the researchers also noted an increase in hair diameter – an average diameter increase of 78.9%! And the ratio of thicker hairs was “significantly higher” than the placebo control group; and, as with the previous and following studies, the total number of hairs was also “significantly greater” than the control group. Great news for anyone suffering from male pattern baldness and thinning hair.

Ripe apples also contain Procyanidin B-2, though not as much as unripe apples. Keep in mind that the compound was applied topically to the scalps of the test subjects. So, there’s no need to make yourself ill, by eating multiple unripe apples, to attain the hair regrowth and thickening benefits of Procyanidin B-2.

Skin Health

There is a plethora of anecdotal evidence and first-person accounts of acne blemished skin being healed by consuming apples. There are even a few tales of wrinkles and fine lines being smoothed by applying apple slices and/or apple juice to the face. Such stories are all over the world wide web, in both video and blog form. And while some of these stories may strain the boundaries of credibility (wrinkle smoothing, for example), it’s highly improbably that the massive number of acne cure stories are all false.

After all, anything that improves bowel health will benefit your entire body. Fiber cleanses the pipes, so to speak; it moves waste, and the toxins created by that waste, out of the body properly. This means that those toxins do not have to plot a secondary escape route through the body’s largest organ – the epidermis (skin) – in order to leave your body and protect your health.

In addition, apples contain Pectin – a special kind of fiber. Pectin, whether it comes from apples or other fruits, has been proven to boost the immune system, among other things. In multiple recent studies, Pectin increased levels of interleukin-4, a compound that induces creation of infection-fighting mast cells. And anything that boosts the immune systems function is likely to keep acne at bay, because acne is (generally) caused by bacteria.

One young man on YouTube (Acne Erasing Secrets) says that he has stumbled onto a surefire acne cure: fasting on organic apples. He claims this organic apple fast – lasting three days at a time – can clear up acne- prone skin, when performed periodically.

Knowing that apples cleanse the bowels and boosts the immune system, I have no doubt that the an apple fast can work on people who’s acne issues are being cause by ordinary internal issues. However, if your acne is being caused by pore-plugging cosmetics or pharmaceutical drugs that contain corticosteroids, androgens or lithium, it is highly improbable that an apple fast will do you much good.

Other Health Benefits

·         Stroke prevention – Researchers in Finland studied 9,208 peoplefor 28 years and discovered that those who frequently ate apples were less likely to suffer a stroke. Another recent study, from Wageningen University in the Netherlands, indicates that fruits with white flesh – such as apples and pears – can reduce stroke risk by 52%.

·         Metabolic Syndrome – The name for a group of risk factors that occur together and increase the risk for coronary artery disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes. Apples have been studied in reference to metabolic syndrome and the research has proven that apples lower the risk of this condition. Apples contain phytonutrients / antioxidants that support heart health, and the soluble fiber in apples lowers your risk of heart disease by decreasing LDL cholesterol levels. In one study, people who had reported eating any form of apples within the past 24 hours had lower blood levels of C- reactive protein – a marker for inflammation, which signifies an elevated risk for both diabetes and heart disease.

·         Cancer prevention – The American Institute of Cancer Research (AICR) recently added apples to their list of Foods That Fight Cancer. Their website states, “In laboratory studies, flavonoids such as quercetin and the triterpenoids found in apples have slowed the development of cancers of the colon, lung and breast in several stages of cancer development. … Current research suggests that protection may come as much from directly affecting cell growth as from antioxidant activity.” There’s also the oligosaccharides study that I mentioned earlier.

·         Weight loss – Multiple studies have shown that eating apples, and even applesauce, on a regular basis will decrease your risk of developing abdominal fat. It seems that, in addition to the Fiber in apples making one feel fuller, longer, the Pectin acts as a natural appetite suppressant. Apples are also quite low in calories and sodium, which means you won’t consume many calories even if you are somehow able to wolf down a dozen of them; nor will you retain excess water weight. The minerals and other nutrients contained in apples can help control cravings, since most carbohydrate cravings are a result of blood sugar imbalance. In one study, subjects who ate apples (and pears) not only lost more weight than the subjects who consumed the same number of calories in oat cookies, but their blood sugar levels were also lower.

·         Tooth whitening – It’s been scientifically proven that the malic acid in apples can actually whiten teeth. Malic acid is commonly used in commercial tooth whitening products, because it safely dissolves stains from the surface of teeth. So, if you want to whiten and brighten your smile, it’s as cheap and easy as chewing on an apple after meals.

Apples are a true super-food! Not only do they help the heart, the bowels, male pattern baldness, hair thinning and skin conditions like acne; they also protect against stroke, metabolic syndrome, cancer, assist with weight loss and even whiten teeth. That is a LONG list of achievements for just one fruit. An animal study conducted at Cornell University even suggests that apples may help prevent Alzheimer’s disease! More studies need to be done on that subject, of course, but still… The potential is astonishing.