Health
The health benefi ts of eating apples
The phrase, “An apple a day keeps the doctor
away,” is a familiar one that many people
fi rst heard as children. But some may be
surprised to learn the phrase is as factual as it
is familiar.
Apples are among the most cultivated and
consumed foods in the world. They’re also
among the healthiest. Medical News Today, a
market leader for medical news that is owned
and operated by the United Kingdom-based
healthcare publisher Healthline Media, listed
apples among its 10 healthiest foods.
Apples provide an array of health benefi ts,
lending credence to the notion that consuming
one per day might just keep the doctor away:
Apples may reduce risk for stroke. Apples
are rich in antioxidants, including quercetin,
which researchers have determined can help
people lower their risk for thrombotic stroke.
In that study, which was published in the European
Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 2000,
researchers studied more than 9,200 men and
women over a 28-year period. Those who ate the
most apples during that time had a lower risk
for thrombotic stroke, a type of stroke that occurs
when a blood clot forms in an artery that
supplies blood to the brain. Such blood clots
block the fl ow of oxygen-rich blood to the brain,
producing long-term brain damage.
They lower levels of bad cholesterol. “Bad
cholesterol” refers to low-density lipoprotein, or
LDL. LDL is considered bad because high levels
of it lead to a buildup of cholesterol in the
arteries, raising a person’s risk for coronary
artery disease. Thankfully, in 2011, researchers
at Florida State University found that older
women who consume apples every day had reduced
their LDL levels by 23 percent in six
months and even increased their “good” cholesterol
levels by four percent over that period.
Good cholesterol, also known as high-density
lipoprotein or HDL, has been found to prevent
arterial disease.
Apples can help people maintain healthy
weights. The fl avonoid polymers found in apples
inhibit enzymes that break down simple sugars.
What does that mean for you? That means that
the fl avonoid polymers in apples help you fl ush
more of the sugar in apples out of your system
instead of storing it as fat. That can help people
maintain healthy weights. Fuji apples have the
highest concentration of fl avonoids, so people
who want this particular benefi t of apples may
be best picking up these types from their local
farmers’ market.
They can lower risk for diabetes. A recent
cohort study published in BMJ (formerly
the British Medical Journal) that involved researchers
from the United Kingdom, the United
States and Singapore found that consuming
three servings per week of blueberries, grapes,
raisins, apples, or pears reduced participants’
risk for type 2 diabetes by seven percent.
An apple a day could very well keep the doctor
away, paving the way to a long, healthy life
for apple affi cionados.
COURIER L 46 IFE, APRIL 5–11, 2019 M BR B G
Apples provide an array of health benefi ts, lending credence to the
notion that consuming one per day might just keep the doctor away.
very so often a new food
trend arrives, promising
a healthier heart, a
metabolism boost, or overall
longevity and general health.
These trends come and go,
with varying degrees of popularity
and success, but coconut
oil, with purported myriad
health benefits, seems to have
exceptional staying power.
Coconut oil, which comes
from extracting the fat from
the white insides of a coconut,
is so popular that it can be
found not only in small health
food stores, but also in major
grocery chains next to other
cooking oils such as olive and
canola.
The rub? While many Americans
polled believed coconut
oil to be a health food, only 37
percent of nutritionists agreed.
That could be because of its
saturated fat content, which is
even higher than that of butter
(a tablespoon of butter has
7 grams of saturated fat compared
with 12 grams in a tablespoon
of coconut oil). Consuming
high levels of saturated fat
has been linked to an increased
risk of heart disease.
So how does coconut oil compares
with other cooking oils
when it comes to heart health?
And does it makes sense to incorporate
it into your diet?
Is cooking with coconut
oil as healthy as some folks
claim it to be?
Probably not. It’s very high
in saturated fat. Butter is 64
percent saturated fat, whereas
coconut oil is about 90 percent
saturated fat. The reason
why people think it might be
healthy is it contains lauric
acid, which increases HDL cholesterol
(the good kind), which
in turn protects against heart
attack and stroke. But it also
increases LDL cholesterol (the
bad kind), which contributes to
narrowing of the arteries and
increases one’s risk of a heart
attack and stroke.
What do studies of coconut
oil’s effect on the heart
show?
There really is no data to
support that it’s good for your
heart or that it improves heart
health. There’s a lot of data on
using coconut oil in mice and
rabbits, but there’s not a lot of
real, solid data looking at coconut
oil in humans. In 2016, researchers
reviewed findings
from about 21 studies, looking
at the effect of coconut oil or
coconut oil products on cholesterol.
Compared with unsaturated
oils like olive oil,
sunflower, safflower, and corn
oils, coconut oil actually raised
your HDL, LDL, and total cholesterol.
Again, these are not
studies looking at survival or
mortality or incidence of heart
disease. These are studies that
are just looking at cholesterol
levels per se. And then people
are extrapolating from there.
Are there any pros to
cooking with coconut oil?
For people who cook at very
high temperatures, coconut oil
is a good one to use because it
has a very high smoking point.
That means it won’t smoke at
very high temperatures, which
is a healthier environment for
people to cook in. It has a semisolid
quality when left at room
temperature, so there are some
people who think it may be
helpful to use as a replacement
for cooking things that would
use butter, like baked goods.
Which oils rate highly in
terms of heart health?
Olive oil is definitely the
best. It has the least amount of
saturated fat and reduces the
risk of cardiovascular disease.
Comparatively speaking, a tablespoon
of coconut oil has six
times the amount of saturated
fat than a tablespoon of olive
oil. Canola oil is low in saturated
fat, and it’s also a liquid
at room temperature. It has a
higher smoking point than olive
oil, so it can be used safely
for cooking at high temperatures,
but people don’t always
like its flavor. Flaxseed oil has
a lot of omega-3 fatty acids,
which may contribute to heart
health. Avocado oil is high in
monounsaturated fatty acids,
which can promote healthy
cholesterol levels. It also has a
high smoke point and is used
for stir-frying, sautéing, and
searing, but it may be too expensive
for some people to use
regularly. Nut oils like walnut
oil are good, because nuts are
part of the Mediterranean diet,
but can be very expensive.
How much olive oil is recommend
consuming daily?
If you’re in good health,
about two tablespoons daily
may reduce the risk of heart
disease due to the beneficial
polyunsaturated and monounsaturated
fats in olive oil. One
tablespoon serving has about
14 grams of fat, with most of it
being heart-healthy monounsaturated
fat.
What oils should be
avoided?
Palm oil, which is very high
in saturated fats, as well as oils
that are labeled as partially
hydrogenated, such as vegetable
oil, should be avoided. They
contain trans fats and can increase
your risk of heart disease.
In 2015 the U.S. Food and
Drug Administration ruled
that manufacturers must remove
all trans fat from processed
foods by June 18, 2018,
but that deadline has been
extended to January 1, 2020.
As for coconut oil, it can
be used in moderation since
the data really is still out. In
general, if your diet for the
most part is olive oil, then
it’s OK to have a little coconut
oil here and there. It’s
not going to kill you.
To speak to a NewYork-
Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist
Hospital cardiologist
about your heart health and
healthy changes you can make
to your diet, call 718.499.2273.