According to a Horticulture Australia Limited (HAL) report, new research backs up the saying ‘an apple a day keeps the doctor away'.
Apples have always been known as an all-round healthy fruit, but senior research dietician at the CSIRO, Manny Noakes - who reviewed the research - believes that people don't know much about the specific advantages they can gain from eating apples.
'Eating them with the skin on is a good thing to do and there are lots of potential health benefits,' Dr Noakes told the Sydney Morning Herald.
A single apple is said to contain roughly 200mg of polyphenol, an antioxidant that is known to play an important role in metabolism and fat reduction as well as to ease allergy symptoms, such as hay fever and asthma. The polyphenols in three apples are said to reduce cholesterol in the bloodstream by anywhere up to 8 per cent.
Apples are a good source of dietary fibre, vitamin C and potassium and take more time to eat than rapid-consumption snack foods, which Dr Noakes sees as a positive.
'Those (alternative snack) foods are developed for convenience but what could be more convenient than an apple?' he said.
