In a new twist to the age-old ‘apple a day’ adage a study has shown that pregnant women who often eat apples during their pregnancy may protect their newborns from asthma.
Dutch researchers have found that women who consumed more than four apples a week will give birth to children who are 37 per cent less likely to have asthma, compared to mothers who had the lowest consumption of apples during pregnancy.
The study was based on the analysis of 1,253 children from before birth to age 5, where the mothers completed food questionnaires during their pregnancies.
The babies’ health and diets were assessed with a symptom questionnaire.
The mechanism behind apples' apparent protective effect may have something to do with the flavonoids and other antioxidants contained in apples, said Dr. Devang Doshi, director of pediatric allergy and immunology at Beaumont Hospital,Michigan in the study, which was published in the January issue of Thorax.
More than 20 million Americans have asthma and about 6.2 million of those are children, according to the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention.
