Health & Medicine
An Apple a Day Keeps the Cardiologist Away
Brooke Miller
First Posted: Oct 03, 2012 04:53 AM EDT
Have you ever given this thought? What makes apple so special? Apple not only satisfies hunger with few calories but also plays a great role in maintaining a good health. That is why an apple a day keeps a doctor away.
A new study highlights an interesting fact. An apple day keeps the cardiologist away too. The details of this study were carried in the Journal of Functional Foods and will appear in a future print edition.
This master's thesis by graduate student Shi Zhao was funded by a grant from the U.S. Apple Association/Apple Product Research and Education Council and a donation from Futureceuticals Inc. of Momence, Ill. Also involved in the study were associate professor Joshua Bomser and research associate Elizabeth Joseph, both in the Department of Human Nutrition, which is housed in the university's College of Education and Human Ecology.
It focused on middle aged adults and the consumption of one apple a day for four weeks lowered by 40 percent blood levels of oxidized low density lipoprotein (LDL or bad cholesterol) responsible for hardening of the arteries.
When LDL cholesterol interacts with free radicals to become oxidized, the cholesterol is more likely to promote inflammation and can cause tissue damage.
"When LDL becomes oxidized, it takes on a form that begins atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries," said lead researcher Robert DiSilvestro, professor of human nutrition at Ohio State University and a researcher at the university's Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center. "We got a tremendous effect against LDL being oxidized with just one apple a day for four weeks."
The difference they spotted was similar to that noticed between people with normal coronary arteries versus those with coronary artery disease.
DiSilvestro said daily apple consumption is more effective at lowering oxidized LDL than other antioxidants.
"Not all antioxidants are created equal when it comes to this particular effect," he said.
However, the consumption of capsules that had polyphenols, a type of antioxidant found in apples, produced a similar effect but it was not strong enough.
In order to conduct 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.
In all, 16 participants ate a large red or golden delicious apple for four weeks; 17 took capsules containing 194 milligrams of polyphenols a day for four weeks; and 18 took a placebo containing no polyphenols. The researchers found no effect on oxidized LDLs in those taking the placebo.
"We think the polyphenols account for a lot of the effect from apples, but we did try to isolate just the polyphenols, using about what you'd get from an apple a day," DiSilvestro said.
"We found the polyphenol extract did register a measurable effect, but not as strong as the straight apple. That could either be because there are other things in the apple that could contribute to the effect, or, in some cases, these bioactive compounds seem to get absorbed better when they're consumed in foods."
The researcher highlighted another important factor. Eating apples had some effects on antioxidant in saliva which has implication for dental health.
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First Posted: Oct 03, 2012 04:53 AM EDT
Have you ever given this thought? What makes apple so special? Apple not only satisfies hunger with few calories but also plays a great role in maintaining a good health. That is why an apple a day keeps a doctor away.
A new study highlights an interesting fact. An apple day keeps the cardiologist away too. The details of this study were carried in the Journal of Functional Foods and will appear in a future print edition.
This master's thesis by graduate student Shi Zhao was funded by a grant from the U.S. Apple Association/Apple Product Research and Education Council and a donation from Futureceuticals Inc. of Momence, Ill. Also involved in the study were associate professor Joshua Bomser and research associate Elizabeth Joseph, both in the Department of Human Nutrition, which is housed in the university's College of Education and Human Ecology.
It focused on middle aged adults and the consumption of one apple a day for four weeks lowered by 40 percent blood levels of oxidized low density lipoprotein (LDL or bad cholesterol) responsible for hardening of the arteries.
When LDL cholesterol interacts with free radicals to become oxidized, the cholesterol is more likely to promote inflammation and can cause tissue damage.
"When LDL becomes oxidized, it takes on a form that begins atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries," said lead researcher Robert DiSilvestro, professor of human nutrition at Ohio State University and a researcher at the university's Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center. "We got a tremendous effect against LDL being oxidized with just one apple a day for four weeks."
The difference they spotted was similar to that noticed between people with normal coronary arteries versus those with coronary artery disease.
DiSilvestro said daily apple consumption is more effective at lowering oxidized LDL than other antioxidants.
"Not all antioxidants are created equal when it comes to this particular effect," he said.
However, the consumption of capsules that had polyphenols, a type of antioxidant found in apples, produced a similar effect but it was not strong enough.
In order to conduct 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.
In all, 16 participants ate a large red or golden delicious apple for four weeks; 17 took capsules containing 194 milligrams of polyphenols a day for four weeks; and 18 took a placebo containing no polyphenols. The researchers found no effect on oxidized LDLs in those taking the placebo.
"We think the polyphenols account for a lot of the effect from apples, but we did try to isolate just the polyphenols, using about what you'd get from an apple a day," DiSilvestro said.
"We found the polyphenol extract did register a measurable effect, but not as strong as the straight apple. That could either be because there are other things in the apple that could contribute to the effect, or, in some cases, these bioactive compounds seem to get absorbed better when they're consumed in foods."
The researcher highlighted another important factor. Eating apples had some effects on antioxidant in saliva which has implication for dental health.
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone