In a study of healthy, middle-aged adults, consumption of one apple a day for four weeks lowered by 40% 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 study, funded by an apple industry group, found that the apples lowered blood levels of oxidised LDL-low-density lipoprotein, the bad cholesterol. When LDL cholesterol interacts with free radicals to become oxidised, the cholesterol is more likely to promote inflammation and can cause tissue damage.
Lead researcher Robert DiSilvestro, professor of human nutrition at Ohio State University, said: “When LDL becomes oxidised, it takes on a form that begins atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries. We got a tremendous effect against LDL being oxidised 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.
Source: University of Ohio
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