Remember
the old saying "An apple a day, keeps the doctor away?"
Well, whoever coined that phrase knew what they were talking about!
- New research suggests that eating the proverbial apple a day can reduce the risk of developing asthma.
- According to research from the University of Massachusetts Lowell which suggests that eating apples and drinking apple juice may improve memory and learning.
- Apples contain boron, an essential trace element that helps
harden the bones, which can help prevent osteoporosis in women and men.
- Apples are loaded with pectin, a soluble fiber that aids in
digestion and may help reduce cancer and heart disease.
- One apple provides as much dietary fiber as a bowl of bran cereal.
- The complex carbohydrates in apples give your body a longer,
more even energy boost compared to high sugar snacks. Apples keep you going much longer.
- "An apple packs more cancer fighting antioxidant capability
than a 1,500 milligram megadose of vitamin C."
Courtesy of the
New York Apple Association
CORNELL ANTICANCER FINDINGS
It's true, an apple a day really does keep the doctor away--and
the cancer--according to recent research.
Cornell University food scientists have discovered that substances
called phytochemicals, found primarily in the skin of New York
apples, provide huge antioxidant and anticancer benefits.
The laboratory study, funded by the New York Apple Association
and the New York Apple Research Development Program, was published
in the June 22, 2001 issue of the journal Nature.
The Cornell researchers found that eating 100 grams of a fresh
New York apple with skins provided the total antioxidant and
anticancer activity equal to 1,500 milligrams of vitamin C.
"Eating fruits and vegetables is better than taking a vitamin
pill," said Rui Hai Liu, Cornell assistant professor of
food science and lead author on the Nature article.
Industry leaders expect the phytochemical findings to provide
the same sales boost to New York apples that blueberries and
broccoli received following similar anticancer/antioxidant findings
for those foods last year.
"This is the kind of jump-start our industry needs and
we'll be concentrating a large part of our future marketing
strategy on these findings,' said New York Apple Association
President James Allen. Allen is working with the Association's
advertising and public relations firms to come up with a new
marketing campaign based on the anticancer findings. "This
is probably the best marketing tool for New York apples to come
down the pike in recent memory," Allen said. "This
kind of news can really help to completely turn this industry
around."
The research was well publicized. News of the study was picked
up by the Associated Press, Reuters, ABC, CBS, CNN, the BBC,
and FOX News. It was seen as far away as London, Brazil and
Australia and broadcast extensively in the U.S., appearing in
35 of the top 50 domestic TV markets.
Although it has long been known that apples provide antioxidant
and health benefits, "this concept is different,",
says Liu. "It demonstrates the antioxidant activity of
fresh apples," since the phytochemicals are found in higher
concentrations in the skin.
An antioxidant is one of many chemicals that reduce or prevent
oxidation, thus preventing cell and tissue damage in the body.
"In this research, we have shown the importance of phytochemicals
to human health," says Liu's collaborator, Chang Yong Lee,
Cornell professor of food science at the university's New York
State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva.
"Some of the phytochemicals are known to be antiallergenic,
some are anti-carcinogenic, anti-inflammatory, anti-viral, anti-proliferative.
Now I have a reason to say an apple a day keeps the doctor away."back
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