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Score another one for folk wisdom: Adults who eat apples and applesauce, as well as drink apple juice, have a significantly reduced risk of metabolic syndrome, a cluster of health problems linked to chronic diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease, according to a study presented at the Experimental Biology 2008 meeting this week.
Using adult-food-consumption data collected in the 1999 to 2004 National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey-the government's largest database for food consumption and health-researchers examined the association between consumption of apples and apple products, nutrient intake, and various physiological factors related to metabolic syndrome. Compared with people who eschewed apples, adult apple crunchers were 27 percent less likely of being diagnosed with metabolic syndrome.
"We found that adults who eat apples and apple products have smaller waistlines that indicate less abdominal fat, lower blood pressure and a reduced risk for developing what is known as the metabolic syndrome," says Victor Fulgoni, M.D., the lead author of the study. Not only are apple lovers 30 percent less likely to have elevated diastolic blood pressure, and 36 percent less likely to have elevated systolic blood pressure, but they're also have a 21 percent reduced risk of increased waist circumference-all predictors of cardiovascular disease and increased likelihood of metabolic syndrome.
Plus, researchers found that apple consumers had a greater intake of fruit and key nutrients, including dietary fiber, vitamins A and C, calcium, and potassium than non-consumers. Apple eaters also chowed down less total fat, saturated fat, discretionary fat, and added sugars. ::Newswise
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