Apples are a natural alternative to drugs for women who want to keep their heart and circulation healthy in later life, researchers claimed yesterday.
A research team led by Dr Bahram Arjmandi of the Florida State University, USA, evaluated the long-term protective effects of daily apple consumption for the heart.
They recruited 160 postmenopausal women aged 45 to 65. Half ate 75g dried apples each day, and the other half ate dried prunes.
After six months the apple-eaters experienced a 23 per cent decrease in low density lipoprotein cholesterol. Their levels of C-reactive protein – a marker of inflammation – were half that of the prune group, while their serum triglycerides fell by over ten per cent.
Results were presented yesterday (April 12) at the Experimental Biology 2011 conference, held in Washington, DC, USA.
Dr Arjmandi said: "I never expected apple consumption to reduce bad cholesterol to this extent while increasing high density lipoprotein cholesterol or good cholesterol by about four per cent."
He added that these women also lost an average of 3.3 lbs. "Reducing body weight is an added benefit to daily apple intake" he said. The researchers think the weight loss was partly due to pectin in the apple, which is thought to boost satiety.
"Everyone can benefit from consuming apples," Dr Arjmandi concluded. His team will now aim to confirm the results in a larger nationwide study.
Many previous experiments on rats have found a similar effect of apples on cholesterol levels, possibly due to the pectin, fibre or polyphenol content.
Chai, S. C. et al. Daily apple consumption promotes cardiovascular health in postmenopausal women. Presented on April 12, 2011, at the Experimental Biology 2011 conference, held in Washington, DC, USA.
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