“An apple a day keeps the doctor away”, to me it sounds like just a rhyme, this phrase is said to be about
150 years old, in old English apple is used to describe any fruit that is round
and grow on trees, even the Bible referred to the fruit that Adam and Eve ate
as an apple, so what now made apple to be that special to keep the doctor away,
when I was growing up I used to think it’s because apple is very expensive to
an average Nigerian as just fruit on a regular basis that is why the saying was
made popular to get more people to buy it, but as I grew older I became more
curious to find out if this saying is true or it’s just a rhyme.
Now to the question, does an apple a day
really keeps the doctor away? According to a study by BMJ Dec 2013 “An apple a
day would prevent or delay around 8,500 vascular deaths such as heart attacks
and strokes every year in the UK -- similar to giving statins to everyone over
50 years who is not already taking them.”
Apples have a good claim to promote
health. They contain Vitamin C, which aids the immune system, and phenols, which
reduce cholesterol. They also reduce tooth decay by cleaning one's teeth and
killing off bacteria. It has also been suggested by Cornell University
researchers that the quercetin found in apples protects brain cells against
neuro-degenerative disorders like Alzheimer's disease.
In a study of healthy, middle-aged adults, consumption of
one apple a day for four weeks lowered by 40 percent blood levels of a
substance known as LDL -- low-density lipoprotein, linked to hardening of the
arteries.
Here's another
reason why "an apple a day keeps the doctor away." New research shows
oral ingestion of apple polyphenols suppresses T cell activation to prevent
colitis in mice. This study is the first demonstrating a role for T cells in
polyphenol-mediated protection against autoimmune disease possibly leading to
treatments for people with disorders from bowel inflammation, such as
ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease and colitis-associated colorectal cancer.
Additionally,
when eating apple, make sure you consume it with the skin, Eating apples with
skin enables you to get all the nutrients in it, many of the nutrients are in
the skin or just under the skin (most of the vitamin C and vitamin A are in the
skin).
The
Cornell researchers suggest that a combination of plant chemicals, collectively
known as phytochemicals, found mainly in the skin of apples, provide the bulk
of the fruit's anticancer and antioxidant properties. The cooperative activity
of these phytochemicals, they argue, has health benefits that are superior to
those found in single compounds like vitamin C, vitamin E, and beta-carotene,
which have been widely studied for their antioxidant activities.
Using
colon cancer cells treated with apple extract, Liu and colleagues found that 50
milligrams of apple extracted from the skins decreased the cancer cell growth
by 43%, while the same amount of extract from the flesh of the apple decreased
cancer cell growth by 29%. Likewise, 50 milligrams of extract from apples with
the skin on decreased liver cancer cell growth by 57%, compared to 40% for samples
extracted from apples without the skin.
In
conclusion, make an habit of eating an apple a day or regularly, not just apple
alone, other fruits and vegetables also, this will not only keep the doctor
away but will alsom make you to live a longer and healthier and happier life.
Interesting
apple facts:
- There are more than 7,500 varieties of apples. When I lived in England I tasted many different and delicious apples that I never see in Canada.
- The apple tree is a member of the rose family.
- When you eat an apple you are consuming a lot of air; 25 percent of their volume is air!
- Apples have 5 percent protein.
- Apple trees can live to be 100 years old!
- The largest apple weighed three pounds.
- In ancient Greece when a man proposed to a woman he would toss her an apple and if she decided to catch it, it meant she accepted.
- The original proverb about eating an apple a day, which came about in 1866, was: "Eat an apple on going to bed, and you'll keep the doctor from earning his bread."
- It takes the energy from 50 leaves to produce one apple.
- As apple seeds are toxic when eaten in high doses, they should be avoided by pregnant or breastfeeding women and children.
REFERENCES
- · Mother Nature network, MNN Wed, Oct 12, 2011
http://www.care2.com/greenliving/10-reasons-to-eat-an-apple-a-day.html#ixzz35rbWdPYv
- · Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology
- · ScienceDaily
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/12/131217210549.htm
