Eating apples
could be a tasty way to lower your chances of dying from cardiovascular
disease. In a new study, University of Oxford researchers compared
anti-cholesterol drugs known as statins to apples. What they found out was
surprising. Eating an apple a day could benefit heart health similar to taking
40 mg of simvistatin (Zocor) a day. The researchers say it's too soon to
replace your cholesterol drug with an apple a day. But eating the fruit could
boost heart protection even more.
It's no
surprise that fruits are good for you, but new research suggests they
just might have the potential to save your life. Researchers at Oxford
University found that eating as little as one medium-sized apple or a
handful of fresh strawberries a day could slash your risk of heart disease by
40 percent.
The
researchers tracked about half a million people in China with no previous
history of heart disease for seven years. By the study's end, they found the
group who ate at least 150 grams of fresh fruit a day had significantly lower
blood pressure, less risk of cardiovascular disease, and fewer deaths compared
to those who never or rarely ate fruit. And while the daily fruit eaters saw
the most cardiovascular benefit, even the participants who ate fruit just one
to three times a week had up to 28 percent lower risk of heart disease than
non–fruit eaters. This suggests that the more fruit you eat, the better off you
are. That's because fruits offer a rich variety of heart-protective nutrients
like potassium, folate, magnesium, fiber and antioxidants. These nutrients
guard the heart by reducing antioxidant stress, improving blood fats, lowering
blood pressure, and increasing insulin sensitivity.
The U.S.
government's dietary guidelines advise men to get two cups of fruit a day (like
one small apple and a banana, for example) — a larger daily portion than was
studied here. So while more research is needed to confirm this, if you eat the
recommended amount, you could potentially decrease your blood pressure and
cardiovascular disease risks even more than 40 percent. But as with any food,
it's still possible to eat too much fruit. Fruit should be part of a healthy
diet, but it still contains calories. And if you consume more calories than you
need in a day, even those extra calories from fruit could lead to weight gain. Luckily
it's hard to overdo it with fruit. Because it's so full of fiber, it fills you
up fast, so you're not very likely to eat too much. Furthermore,
fresh fruit is a very minor source of fructose in our diet as compared
to the added sugars in soft drinks and other processed foods.
The study didn't dig into what kinds of fruit these people ate, but
certain types may have more heart-protective nutrients than others, like
berries, apples and citrus fruits but also mixing it up a little.
A multicolored fruit bowl equips your body with a nutrient lineup
ready to defend your heart," she says. And at meals, aim to fill half of
your plate with colorful fruits and vegetables. This quantity and variety of
produce will help safeguard your ticker.
