You have always known that an apple a day helps keep the doctor away but there is something else about consuming apples daily you probably didn’t know.
Researchers at the University of East Anglia and Harvard Medical School found that consuming apples daily can also help you to stop putting on weight and also shed some weight.
This is due to a plant compound called flavanoid which is also found in berries, pears, strawberries and radishes.
The researchers analysed data for 124,086 men and women in the US over a 24-year period.
“This is the first large study to examine the associations between consumption of all flavanoids and weight gain in middle-aged and older adults,” said Professor Aedin Cassidy, from the University of East Anglia’s Norwich Medical School.
“Most adults gain weight as they age and even small increases in weight can have a substantial impact on risk of high blood pressure, developing heart disease, cancer or diabetes – so strategies to help individuals maintain a healthy weight in middle-age are needed.
“We found that an increased consumption of most flavanoids was associated with weight maintenance and even a modest weight loss. The results were found to be consistent across men and women, and different ages.
“However losing even small amounts of weight, or preventing weight gain, can improve health and these modest effects were seen with a small, readily achievable increase in intake of many of these fruits.
“Just a single portion of some of these fruits per day would have an important impact on health at a population level.”
The study was published in the British Medical Journal.
S.O.Z