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An apple a day keeps the doctor away
Hair Growth
Japanese researchers extracted a particular chemical compound from apples named procyanidin B-2 and studied its effect on hair epithelial cells in lab animals. Their conclusion, published in the January 2002 issue of British Journal of Dermatology, was that the compound promotes hair growth. The topic of whether or not it could do so on portions of the human male cranium that formerly boasted hair but currently do not was not addressed.
Cholera
Cholera, a scourge in the U.S. during pioneer days, has not been a problem here for more than a century. But outbreaks still occur elsewhere around the world. It's good to know apples can help. Japanese researchers, reporting in Microbiology and Immunology this year, administered a polyphenol compound extracted from immature apples to laboratory animal subjects and found it inhibited the effects of the cholera toxin in a dose-dependent manner—the more of the extract the animals ingested, the greater the control against symptoms. Apples appear to be good medicine—or, to use a more modern terminology, "effective nutriceuticals" (substances in plant foods that have protective and therapeutic values).
COPD
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) leaves its victims gasping for breath. Dutch scientists studied whether the flavonoid class of food compounds, including catechins, could improve symptoms in COPD patients. Tea and apples were the primary sources of the flavonoids. Results showed a positive association with improved lung function, including lowered incidence of coughing and breathlessness. The researchers stated in the July 1, 2001 issue of American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, "Solid fruit, but not tea, intake was beneficially associated with COPD. Our results suggest a beneficial effect of a high intake of catechins and solid fruits against COPD." That is, eating apples may very well help.
Bladder Cancer
Bladder cancer is a risk associated with the smoking of tobacco. French researchers, writing in the October 1996 issue of Carcinogenesis and the June 18, 1998 issue of Mutation Research, described their investigations into the inhibitory effects of dietary phenolics on the development of carcinogenic substances in the bladder. Their conclusion was that "overall, our study strongly suggests that smokers ingesting dietary phenolics, probably flavonoids, are partially protected against the harmful effects by tobacco carcinogens within their bladder mucosal cells." The foods cited as "important sources of dietary flavonoids which are probably responsible for the anti-mutagenicity associated with foods and beverages" were apples, onions, lettuce and red wine.
Lung Cancer
Scientists at the University of Hawaii's Cancer Research Center of Hawaii in Honolulu investigated possible relationships between flavonoid intake and lung cancer risk. They wrote in Journal of the National Cancer Institute in its January 19, 2000 issue that "we found statistically significant inverse associations between lung cancer risk and the main food sources of the flavonoids quercetin (onions and apples) and naringin (white grapefruit)." They concluded that "if replicated, particularly in prospective studies, these findings would suggest that foods rich in certain flavonoids may protect against certain forms of lung cancer." That is, quercetin may have a protective effect against lung cancer, and apples are among the richest foods in the beneficial quercetin.
Prostate
Belgian researchers from Antwerp, writing in European Urology in 1999, noted that the low-fat, high-fiber diets typical in Asia are associated with lower incidences of prostate cancer and prostate enlargement in comparison with rates in the U.S. and Europe. Phytoestrogens (estrogenic compounds in plants) have been proposed as the preventive agents. Flavonoids are among one class of phytoestrogens, and, the authors stated, "apples, onions and tea-leaves are excellent sources of flavonoids." Many plant compounds also help by inhibiting particular enzymes that are "crucial to cellular proliferation," which is a mechanism present in cancer.
Stroke
The U.S. Department of Agriculture scientists based at Tufts University noted in the September 15, 1999 Journal of Neuroscience that phytochemicals (chemicals found in plants) that are present in antioxidant-rich foods have for some time been known to have beneficial effects in relation to cancer and the cardiovascular system. Finnish researchers, writing in the May 2000 issue of European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, discussed a 28-year study of intake of the flavonoid quercetin by more than 9,000 Finnish men and women, about 9% of whom experienced cardiovascular disease during that period. Apples were the major source of quercetin for the study population. The researchers' conclusion was that "the results suggest that the intake of apples is related to a decreased risk of thrombotic stroke."
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