Does An Apple A Day Actually Keep The Doctor Away?

Everyone has heard the old adage "an apple a day keeps the doctor away." Eating fruits and vegetables may seem like common sense but why were apples singled out as a sickness-preventing food?  Well believe it or not, apples have actually been associated with lowering the risk of diseases and certain types of cancer.

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Apples may not keep doctors away forever, as you should go for your yearly check-up, but they will provide you with numerous health benefits. In the Nurses' Health Study, which involved more than 77,000 women in the United States, showed that women who consumed at least one serving of apples a day had a reduced risk of lung cancer. In a Women's Healthy Study, researchers concluded that there was a 13 to 22 percent decrease in cardiovascular disease for those women that ate an apple a day.

"To protect yourself against cardiovascular disease and several forms of cancer, it's important to include at least seven servings – and preferably more – of fruits and vegetables in your diet every day, but if there's one particular type of fruit you want to make sure you eat every day, it's an apple," said Dr. James Barnard, UCLA professor and researcher to Pritikin.