EAT ME: Seven health benefits of apples

You must have heard the popular saying “an apple a day keeps the doctor away”. Well, there happens to be a lot of truth in that saying. Apples are not just sweet and satisfying, they are highly nutritious and can do so much good for your body.

Here are seven ways eating apples can keep your doctor away.

Apples help reduce the risk of heart disease

Apples help the health of your heart in several ways. Because they contain soluble fiber that helps lower blood cholesterol levels, they have been linked to reducing the risk of heart disease.

A study that compared the effects of eating an apple a day to taking statins — drugs for lowering cholesterol, — concluded that apples would be almost as effective at reducing death from heart disease as the drugs.

Apples also contain polyphenols like flavonoid epicatechin mostly concentrated in the peels, which have antioxidant effects and can lower blood pressure. So if you’re one of the few weird people who peel their apples, you may want to rethink doing that.

They can reduce the risk of diabetes

Another awesome benefit of eating apples is that they can lower the risk of type 2 diabetes. In one study, eating an apple a day was associated with a 28% lower risk of type 2 diabetes, in comparison to not eating apples at all.

Even eating just a few apples per week had a similar effect. How cool is that?

Fights cancer

Apples have many naturally occurring compounds that may help fight cancer. Studies have shown a link between these compounds and a lower risk of cancer and death from cancer.

Scientists have also attributed their potential cancer-preventive effects to their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects.

Apples can help fight Asthma

Good news! Apples would be great in your diet if you have asthma or want to reduce your risk of developing asthma. This is because of the antioxidant properties it possesses.

A study of more than 68,000 women found that those who ate the most apples had the lowest risk of asthma. Also, eating just about 15% of a large apple per day was linked to a whole 10% lower risk of this condition.

Apples can help your bones

Eating apples is linked to higher bone density, which is a marker of bone health. This is again, due to the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory compounds it contains.

In a study where women ate a meal that either contained fresh apples, peeled apples, applesauce, or no apple products, those who ate apples lost less calcium from their bodies than the group that ate no apples.

They can protect your stomach against injury from NSAIDS

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are a class of painkillers that can injure the lining of your stomach.

A study in test tubes found that freeze-dried apple extract helped protect stomach cells from injury due to NSAIDs.

Chlorogenic acid and catechin contained in apples are thought to be particularly helpful in this.

Apples can help with weight loss

If you’re looking to lose weight for health reasons, apples are the way to go. A medium-sized apple consists of about 86% water and waits for it — just 95 calories! Apples are also rich in fiber which along with the high percentage of water, give a filling effect.

Because of these properties, apples can often lead to reduced calorie intake. A study showed that those who started their meal with apple slices ate an average of 200 fewer calories than those who didn’t die to the filling effects of the fruit. Another study in 50 overweight women, also showed that the participants who ate apples lost an average of 2 pounds and ate fewer calories.