Apples, apple juice shown to prevent early atherosclerosis!

New animal research finds apple phytonutrients to be heart-healthy.

Vienna, VA (May 8, 2008) – A new study shows that consumption of apples and apple juice may contribute to a healthy heart not unlike the often-touted purple grape and grape juice. The research was published in the April 2008 issue of Molecular Nutrition and Food Research.

Researcher Kelly Decorde from the Universite Montpelier in France was part of the European research team that found apples have cardiovascular protective properties similar to grapes. Both appear to reduce atherosclerosis, a disease characterized by arterial plaque build-up and hardening of the arteries that can lead to stroke or heart attack.

The research stated, “These results show for the first time that long-term consumption of antioxidants supplied by apples and purple grapes, especially phenolic compounds, prevents the development of atherosclerosis in hamsters, and that the processing can have a major impact on the potential health effects of a product.”

In addition to the cardiovascular benefits, the results suggest that processing the fruit into juice may actually increase the bioavailability of the naturally-occurring compounds and antioxidants found in whole apples and grapes. The researchers observed significant decreases in plaque levels from both the whole fruits and their juices.

The researchers noted, “This study demonstrates that processing apples and purple grapes into juice modifies the protective effect of their phenolics against diet induced oxidative stress and early atherosclerosis in hypercholesterolemic hamsters.”

In their summary, the researchers suggested that their work would help provide encouragement that fruit and fruit juices may have significant clinical and public health relevance.

Source: Decorde, K., Teisserdre, C., Cristol, J., Rouanet, J. Phenolics from purple grape, apple, purple grape juice and apple juice prevent early atherosclerosis induced by an atherogenic diet in hamsters. Molecular Nutrition & Food Research. 2008, 52, 400-407.

Apples Lower Heart Disease Risk!

Eating a couple of apples a day may significantly cut heart disease risk, according to a new study of the health benefits of fiber consumption – suggesting that such high-fiber carbohydrates should be embraced, not avoided, experts say.

To estimate the association between dietary fiber intake and risk of coronary heart disease, researchers evaluated data from 10 prospective cohort studies in the United States and Europe involving 91,058 men and 245,186 women that measured the amount of fiber in participants’ diets over a period of 6-10 years. Nine of the 10 studies reported an inverse association between fiber consumption and heart disease risk. For every 10 grams of fiber consumed per day, the risk of developing heart disease decreased 14 percent, and the risk of dying from heart disease decreased 27 percent. Fiber from fruits such as apples appeared to be slightly more protective than cereal fiber, lowering the risk of coronary disease death by 30 percent. Results were similar for men and women, researchers reported.

"Our results suggest that dietary fiber intake during adulthood is inversely associated with coronary heart disease risk," authors wrote in yesterday’s edition of the Archives of Internal Medicine. "Coronary risk was 10 to 30 percent lower for each 10-gram per day increment."

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