Drinking the juice of apples and grapes has been proven to have a greater impact in preventing atherosclerosis than eating the fruit itself, according to a group of French researchers.
Hamsters eating a high-fat, high cholesterol diet can prevent the onset of atherosclerosis - the buildup of fatty plaque deposits in the arteries that can lead to heart attacks or strokes - by eating grapes, apples and their juices.
But processing the fruit into juice was shown to have a more powerful anti-atherosclerotic effect than the fruit itself, Dr Kelly Decorde of the University of Montpellier and colleagues found.
Most of the fruit people eat is processed, the researchers said, but information on the nutritional composition of a fruit is normally based on its raw form.
The report, from Reuters, showed that to investigate how juicing might affect the content of phenolic compounds (antioxidants found in fruit), the researchers fed hamsters grapes, grape juice, apples, apple juice or water, along with a diet designed to promote atherosclerosis. A group of control animals ate a regular diet.
The apples and grapes had about the same phenolic compound content, while the purple grape juice had 2.5 times more phenols than apple juice.
The findings suggest that the amount of phenols contained in a food have a direct effect on its antioxidant properties, the researchers wrote.
Decorde’s team said the results “provide encouragement that fruit and fruit juices may have a significant clinical and public health relevance”.
