How Healthy Are Apples?

They’re America’s most popular fruit. Here’s why that’s a great thing.

“An apple a day” might seem like overkill, but America’s most popular fruit — currently weighing down branches in orchards everywhere — is packed with health benefits. Here’s the science behind the nutrition found in these little delights:

They’re good for your gut.

Apples are rich in dietary fiber, a type of complex carbohydrate that our body isn’t capable of digesting on its own. That fiber acts as food for many of the bacteria species that reside in our guts. These bacteria have a powerful impact on our health, affecting everything from cancer risk, to weight, to mood.

A diet high in fruits and vegetables, including apples, has been shown to increase the number of beneficial bacteria and decrease the number of harmful bacteria in people’s guts. That could lead to better overall health.

In addition, apples themselves contain a host of beneficial bacteria. (While this is true for all fruits and vegetables, one study found that apples have a greater variety of bacteria than most.) When you eat an apple, some of those bacteria may become part of your microbiome. The apple is acting like a probiotic in addition to acting like a prebiotic.

They’re heart healthy.

Apples have high amounts of pectin, a dietary fiber that can help you maintain healthy cholesterol levels. In a 2012 study, 160 postmenopausal women ate either 75 grams of dried apples (equal to about two medium sized apples) or prunes every day for one year. After six months, the women who consumed apples experienced a 13 percent drop in their total cholesterol and a 24 percent drop in “bad” LDL cholesterol, while the women who ate prunes experienced a 3.5 percent drop in total cholesterol and an 8 percent drop in LDL cholesterol.

Apples are also one of the biggest dietary sources of polyphenols — tiny, health-promoting molecules that plants produce to defend themselves from the elements. Certain polyphenols in apples, called flavonoids, are particularly good at stimulating the production of nitric oxide, a gas that flows through our blood vessels, causing them to dilate. That’s good for blood pressure.

They can reduce chronic inflammation.

Polyphenols in apples can reduce inflammation — and, in turn, possibly help reduce disease risk. Researchers published a study in August that analyzed health data from more than 119,000 people collected over nearly 20 years, including records of everything they ate over a 24-hour period on five separate occasions. The study found that those who reported eating more than two apples a day in the meal logs had a 30 percent lower chance of developing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease later on. “We saw benefits even at just half a serving a day,” said Aedin Cassidy, the chair of nutrition and preventive medicine at Queen’s University Belfast and a study co-author. The study found that the association between apples and C.O.P.D. risk was also linked to a reduction in inflammatory markers.

How to Enjoy Them

Apples are most nutritious when you leave the skin on. It’s the skin that contains those powerful polyphenols (and much of the fiber). You should wash apples thoroughly before eating them to avoid pesticide exposure.

In general, a darker color apple will have a richer variety of polyphenols. But more important than selecting the deepest red apple you can find is eating different apple varieties, so you can absorb as many different polyphenols as possible, she said.

Let me know if you want some of my favorite apple-containing recipes to enjoy these gems at their most delicious!

REF: NYTimes