Not all antioxidants are created equal when it comes to lowering oxidized LDL cholesterol levels. Eating an apple a day might in fact help keep the cardiologist away, new research funded by the apple industry suggests.
That new research published in the Journal of Functional Foods reports that in a study of healthy, middle-aged adults, consumption of one apple a day for four weeks lowered by 40 percent blood levels of a substance linked to hardening of the arteries. Taking capsules containing polyphenols, a type of antioxidant found in apples, had a similar, but not as large, effect.
The only issue for thousands of people who are not healthy, already have hardened arteries, and are older than middle age is whether an apple a day will also help them because what they’d like is to find a food or nutrient that will reverse their calcified arteries on a special diet.
News release by by Martha Filipic, “Study: An apple a day lowers level of blood chemical linked to hardening of the arteries,” explains how eating an apple a day might in fact help keep the cardiologist away, new research suggests. The study also is reported by Ohio State University, the US Apple Association, Apple Product Research and Education Council, and Futureceuticals Inc.
The study found that the apples lowered blood levels of oxidized LDL — low-density lipoprotein, the “bad” cholesterol. When LDL cholesterol interacts with free radicals to become oxidized, the cholesterol is more likely to promote inflammation and can cause tissue damage.
“When LDL becomes oxidized, it takes on a form that begins atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries,” explained lead researcher Robert DiSilvestro, professor of human nutrition at Ohio State University and a researcher at the university’s Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, in the news release. “We got a tremendous effect against LDL being oxidized with just one apple a day for four weeks.”
The difference was similar to that found between people with normal coronary arteries versus those with coronary artery disease, he said, according to the news release. The study is published online in the Journal of Functional Foods.
Apple consumption daily is more effective at lowering oxidized LDL than other antioxidants studied
DiSilvestro described daily apple consumption as significantly more effective at lowering oxidized LDL than other antioxidants he has studied, including the spice-based compound curcumin, green tea and tomato extract. “Not all antioxidants are created equal when it comes to this particular effect,” he said in the news release.
DiSilvestro first became interested in studying the health effects of eating an apple a day after reading a Turkish study that found such a regimen increased the amount of a specific antioxidant enzyme in the body. In the end, his team didn’t find the same effect on the enzyme, but was surprised at the considerable influence the apples had on oxidized LDL.
Nonsmoking healthy middle-aged adults were recruited for the study
For the study, the researchers recruited nonsmoking healthy adults between the ages of 40 and 60 who had a history of eating apples less than twice a month and who didn’t take supplements containing polyphenols or other plant-based concentrates.
In all, 16 participants ate a large Red or Golden Delicious apple purchased at a Columbus-area grocery store daily for four weeks; 17 took capsules containing 194 milligrams of polyphenols a day for four weeks; and 18 took a placebo containing no polyphenols. The researchers found no effect on oxidized LDLs in those taking the placebo.
“We think the polyphenols account for a lot of the effect from apples, but we did try to isolate just the polyphenols, using about what you’d get from an apple a day,” DiSilvestro said, according to the news release. “We found the polyphenol extract did register a measurable effect, but not as strong as the straight apple. That could either be because there are other things in the apple that could contribute to the effect, or, in some cases, these bioactive compounds seem to get absorbed better when they’re consumed in foods.”
Dental health is another area that could be studied in relation to apples due to antioxidants in the saliva
Still, DiSilvestro said in the news release that polyphenol extracts could be useful in some situations, “perhaps in higher doses than we used in the study, or for people who just never eat apples.” The study also found eating apples had some effects on antioxidants in saliva, which has implications for dental health, DiSilvestro said in the news release. He hopes to follow up on that finding in a future study.
The study was conducted as a Master’s thesis by graduate student Shi Zhao, and was funded by a grant from the U.S. Apple Association/Apple Product Research and Education Council and a donation from Futureceuticals Inc. of Momence, Ill. Also involved in the study were associate professor Joshua Bomser and research associate Elizabeth Joseph, both in the Department of Human Nutrition, which is housed in the university’s College of Education and Human Ecology.
UC Davis in the Sacramento and Davis regional area is one of several universities at the center of apple health benefits research.
Sacramento and Davis scientists have been studying the health protective effects of apples. And now, a new study of apple polyphenols emphasizes more health benefits of eating apples. In fact, in test animals, in the newest study apples extended the animal’s life span by ten percent.
As yourself are eating apples healthy in small amounts? And what happens if you eat too many apples and their high natural fructose levels cause your blood sugar spikes to rise, possibly resulting in increased blood pressure and insulin resistance, if you’re genetically susceptible to developing insulin resistance, or if you eat too much fruit or sweets in general? Balance is the key, but how many apples should you eat? And are the studies of apple eating in animal tests applicable to humans?
How will apples affect people with a genetic mutation that makes them more prone to develop insulin resistance and later perhaps type 2 diabetes? Do the health benefits of eating apples outweigh the high fructose content of apples?
In the Sacramento and Davis regional areas the University of California, Davis has been studying the health benefits of eating apples and other flavonoid rich foods.
See the article, UC Davis Researchers Reveal Apples’ Protective Ways – Molecular Mechanism Of Flavonoid-rich Fruit Discovered. It’s the health benefits of apple polyphenols that scientists are studying around the globe. Also see other studies results, for example, Apple polyphenols may ease food allergy: Nestlé study, and Apple Polyphenols, a Potent Antioxidant, and the article, An Apple A Day Really Keeps The Doctor Away. For example, in some studies, apple procyanidins may be linked to reduced risk of colon cancer.
UC Davis researchers have discovered one way in which flavonoid-rich apples inhibit the kinds of cellular activity that leads to the development of chronic diseases, including heart disease and age-related cancers. Flavonoids in fruits help to protect the body. The UC Davis School of Medicine studies found out how, at least in the case of apples.
Researchers found that apple extract was able to protect cells from damage and death by interfering with communication between cells. The research findings appear in the journal, Experimental Biology and Medicine. Earlier studies have shown that flavonoids–which are found in chocolate and green tea, as well as other fruits and vegetables–behave as anti-oxidants, taking up free oxygen radicals that can damage precious DNA.
The UC Davis study takes that research further by looking beyond the antioxidant effects of apple flavonoids. Check out the study or its abstract in its primary source, “Effect of Apple Extracts on NF-B Activation in Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells,” Experimental Biology and Medicine.
According to a new study at another university published in the American Chemical Society’s Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, “Apple Polyphenols Extend the Mean Lifespan of Drosophila melanogaster,” scientists are reporting the first evidence that consumption of a healthful antioxidant substance in apples extends the average lifespan of test animals, and does so by 10 percent. The new results, obtained with fruit flies — stand-ins for humans in hundreds of research projects each year — bolster similar findings on apple antioxidants in other animal tests. Also check out a March 2 news release about this study, “Polishing the apple’s popular image as a healthy food.”
In the study, Zhen-Yu Chen and colleagues note that damaging substances generated in the body, termed free radicals, cause undesirable changes believed to be involved in the aging process and some diseases. Substances known as antioxidants can combat this damage.
Fruits and vegetables in the diet, especially brightly colored foods like tomatoes, broccoli, blueberries, and apples are excellent sources of antioxidants. A previous study with other test animals hinted that an apple antioxidant could extend average lifespan, according to the March 2 news release. In the current report, the researchers studied whether different apple antioxidants, known as polyphenols, could do the same thing in fruit flies.
The researchers found that apple polyphenols not only prolonged the average lifespan of fruit flies but helped preserve their ability to walk, climb and move about. In addition, apple polyphenols reversed the levels of various biochemical substances found in older fruit flies and used as markers for age-related deterioration and approaching death, according to the news release.
Chen and colleagues note that the results support those from other studies, including one in which women who often ate apples had a 13-22 percent decrease in the risk of heart disease, and polish the apple’s popular culture image as a healthy food.
Apples are one of the four best foods recommended to help you stop smoking
The other three foods are beans, legumes, and spices. Condiments such as sauerkraut and fermented foods also help, for example foods such as tempeh. The worst foods for people trying to stop smoking are those that bring up cravings such as chocolate, cheese, meat, and sugar.
It’s not only apples that can help you to stop smoking, but spices such as cinnamon as well as herbs such as garlic and ginger that also are anti-smoking foods. See the articles, UC-Davis Reports New Apple Heart Health Benefits and Health Benefits of Apples.
What area the best foods to motivate you to quit smoking or to never start the habit? First, you avoid some of the most addictive foods, sugar, milk shakes, ice cream, cheese, chocolate, and processed or BBQ’d meats. Instead you eat sweet fruits when you crave sweets, such as an apple or banana. Next, you eat vegetables other than fries. Try a salad of shrimp or salmon, raw spinach, celery, carrots, red bell peppers, yellow squash or zucchini, raw mung bean sprouts, and chopped green onions.
What happens to your body when you detox from smoking is a 10-day period of imbalance. The more green and red vegetables and fruits you eat, the quicker you’ll get the nicotine toxins out of your body. Also try a little vitamin C, if your health condition permits taking vitamins. Drink lots of filtered, purified water. If milk and cheese causes you to crave suites, avoid dairy products and drink almond milk, hemp milk, or hazelnut milk.
Avoiding the most addictive foods: sugar, chocolate, cheese, and red meat
Or try a bowl of black rice and raw, organic sauerkraut and a dish of chili beans without meat. By avoiding the four most addictive foods which are sugar, chocolate, cheese, and red meat, especially cheese burgers, you will not stir up cravings for highly addictive foods that most people eat daily without realizing how ‘hooked’ on sugar, red or cold-cut meat, and cheese they really are.
Also, don’t load up on bread. Try crackers. Instead eat apples and cinnamon. Spices reduce cravings as do apples. You might cook a pot of boiled brown rice with a handful of raisins or other sweet, dried fruit such as goji berries, blue berries, or cherries and a dash of cinnamon and cloves. When the rice is cooked and fragrant, add a can of coconut milk, and let the cooked rice absorb the coconut milk. Thin the coconut milk with almond milk. Serve chilled.
Fragrance of dried fruit helps lower cravings to smoke
The fragrance of the dried fruit, such as dehydrated nectarines in the brown rice is filling and sweet without addicting you to dairy and table sugar or white rice. If you can’t tolerate whole grains, try an egg drop soup made from boiled diced onions, celery and carrots into which you drop by the tablespoonful two beaten eggs. Flavor with cilantro and any spices or seasonings you enjoy.
For more bulk, add a cup of cooked chick peas, pinto beans, or black beans to the soup and slices of avocado. Spices cut down on cravings for sweets as well as for other food items familiar to you such as the food that creates cravings which are sugar, cheese, chocolate, and meat. What helps most in food items to help you quit smoking? Apples, ginger, and cinnamon. And adding garlic to any foods also helps you cut the cravings. Think spices and herbs–ginger, cloves, cinnamon, and garlic added to foods.
Spices help you lower your cravings for smoking
Save the garlic for the savory foods like fish, beans, and grains. Also a dash of curry and turmeric help. The spicier the food as long as you can stand the spices and herbs, the lower the cravings for smoking or for sweets. Sometimes coconut milk because it’s medium chain saturated fats also helps you cut the cravings. But go easy on the fats. Olive oil on salads also helps as long as you don’t crave lots of cheese with the olive oil.
Be aware of your cravings for dairy unless you’re lactose intolerant and don’t enjoy dairy items such as cheese. Instead, you may prefer organic raw sauerkraut and fermented foods such as tempeh which you could use instead of cheese. For example, try sauerkraut over tempeh, which is fermented soy. Sauerkraut is fermented cabbage. Numerous fermented foods are made more digestible by the fermentation process with cultures, molds, or bacteria that is said to help digestion.
Choose crunchy vegetables instead of mushy comfort foods to help you stop smoking
“Eat more vegetables and fruits to be able to quit smoking,” a new study published online by University at Buffalo researchers reports. But do smokers really want to eat healthier foods? Do they choose these foods over meat, potatoes, and comfort foods such as pasta–that encourage people to smoke because there’s not enough fiber in meats or starchy fillers?
The vegetables that help smokers the most to quit smoking are the cruciferous vegetables such as cauliflower, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and cabbage. And these are the foods many smokers are least likely to select over meat, melted cheese, fried seafood, and potatoes.
It’s the high fiber in cruciferous vegetables that stop the urge to smoke tobacco
The reason why eating more fruits and vegetables may help you quit smoking and stay tobacco-free for longer, scientists think is because fruits and vegetables have high fiber. And higher fiber consumption from fruits and vegetables make people feel fuller. You feel so filled up, you’re no longer hungry, and just don’t feel like lighting up a smoke.
Do smokers want healthy foods?
Do smokers really want healthy foods? Or chips, meat, and soda? Locally, in the Sacramento and Davis regional areas, researchers from the University of California, Davis found that smoking, high blood pressure, diabetes and being overweight were each linked to potentially dangerous vascular changes in the brain.
“We can’t cure disease or cure aging, but the idea of a healthy body, healthy mind is very real,” said study author Dr. Charles DeCarli, director of UC Davis’ Alzheimer’s Disease Center, according to the August 12, 2012 article, Smoking, Diabetes, Obesity May Shrink Your Brain. “People should stop smoking, control their blood pressure, avoid diabetes and lose weight. It seems like a no-brainer.” The study is published in the August 2012 issue of the journal Neurology.
Do smokers who want to quit the habit choose more raw foods or canned vegetables and soups?
When smokers turn to eating more vegetables, usually they may start with canned vegetable soups which are loaded with starches (potatoes, rice, or pasta) that spike blood sugar levels and contribute to many health problems. The glycemic index of cruciferous vegetables, on the other hand, is extremely low, according to the research available at the Diets in Review site. See, The Low Glycemic Index Diet – Diet Review.
Check out the December Life Extension Magazine article, “Do Consumers Really Want Healthy Food?” The end result is you don’t feel hungry when you’re filled up with vegetable and/or fruit fiber. This in turn gives you more of a feeling of satiety or fullness.
When you feel full, you don’t crave a cigarette
When you feel full, you have less of a need to smoke. Many smokers are confusing hunger with an urge to smoke. Also vegetables and fruits don’t enhance the taste of tobacco. What does enhance the taste of tobacco are meats, caffeinated beverages, and alcohol. Fruits and vegetables don’t enhance the taste of tobacco. Check out the June 6, 2012 news release, “To quit smoking, try eating more veggies and fruits.”
There is a growing concern that the lining of canned foods with bisphenol-A or BPA (found in 57% of canned foods) represents a health risk.145,146 It has been shown to be an “endocrine (hormone) disruptor,” which raises concern about potential cancer risk, according to the article, Do Consumers Really Want Healthy Food?
Diets like the South Beach Diet, The Zone and Sugar Busters are all popular forms of the Low Glycemic Index Diet. In this new study, Researchers also found that smokers with higher fruit and vegetable consumption smoked fewer cigarettes per day, waited longer to smoke their first cigarette of the day and scored lower on a common test of nicotine dependence. This new study is the first longitudinal study on the relationship between fruit and vegetable consumption and smoking cessation.
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Legacy Foundation provided funding for this new study, which is published online by the University at Buffalo public health researchers. Read the original paper published in the journal Nicotine & Tobacco Research. This is the first longitudinal study on the relationship between fruit and vegetable consumption and smoking cessation.
The authors, from UB’s School of Public Health and Health Professions, surveyed 1,000 smokers aged 25 and older from around the country, using random-digit dialing telephone interviews. They followed up with the respondents fourteen months later, asking them if they had abstained from tobacco use during the previous month.
“Other studies have taken a snapshot approach, asking smokers and nonsmokers about their diets,” says Gary A. Giovino, PhD, chair of the Department of Community Health and Health Behavior at UB, according to the news release. “We knew from our previous work that people who were abstinent from cigarettes for less than six months consumed more fruits and vegetables than those who still smoked. What we didn’t know was whether recent quitters increased their fruit and vegetable consumption or if smokers who ate more fruits and vegetables were more likely to quit.”
The UB study found that smokers who consumed the most fruit and vegetables were three times more likely to be tobacco-free for at least 30 days at follow-up 14 months later than those consuming the lowest amount of fruits and vegetables. These findings persisted even when adjustments were made to take into account age, gender, race/ethnicity, education, household income and health orientation.
“We may have identified a new tool that can help people quit smoking,” says Jeffrey P. Haibach, MPH, first author on the paper and graduate research assistant in the UB Department of Community Health and Health Behavior, according to the news release. “Granted, this is just an observational study, but improving one’s diet may facilitate quitting.”
Several explanations are possible, such as less nicotine dependence for people who consume a lot of fruits and vegetables or the fact that higher fiber consumption from fruits and vegetables make people feel fuller.
“It is also possible that fruits and vegetables give people more of a feeling of satiety or fullness so that they feel less of a need to smoke, since smokers sometimes confuse hunger with an urge to smoke,” explains Haibach in the June 6 press release.
And unlike some foods which are known to enhance the taste of tobacco, such as meats, caffeinated beverages and alcohol, fruits and vegetables do not enhance the taste of tobacco.
“Foods like fruit and vegetables may actually worsen the taste of cigarettes,” says Haibach in the news release. Smoking rates in the U.S. continue to decline, Giovino notes. But the rate of that decline has slowed during the past decade or so. “Nineteen percent of Americans still smoke cigarettes, but most of them want to quit,” he says in the news release.
Haibach adds: “It’s possible that an improved diet could be an important item to add to the list of measures to help smokers quit. We certainly need to continue efforts to encourage people to quit and help them succeed, including proven approaches like “quit lines,” policies such as tobacco tax increases and smoke-free laws, and effective media campaigns.”
More research is necessary to find out if additional findings are similar to the latest study
The UB researchers caution that more research is needed to determine if these findings replicate and if they do, to identify the mechanisms that explain how fruit and vegetable consumption may help smokers quit. They also see a need for research on other dietary components and smoking cessation. Gregory G. Homish, PhD, assistant professor in the UB Department of Community Health and Health Behavior, also is a co-author.
Plant oils researched for effects on herpes viruses & more diabetes research needed
Researchers also study the effects of plant oils and extracts on viruses, such as herpes. See, Schnitzler P, Koch C, Reichling J. Susceptibility of Drug-Resistant Clinical Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1 strains to essential oils of ginger, thyme, hyssop, and sandalwood. Antimicrob Agents Chemother.
Researchers need to look at diets and predisposition. For example, is it diet or genes when in the USA there’s a nearly 50 percent rate of type 2 diabetes for Hispanics over age 65? And, how many local and national studies represent the growing obesity problem seen in the Southern part of the USA?
