The Apple: Nature’s High-Powered Disease Fighter

By Al Sears, MD

"An apple a day keeps the doctor away" - and after all these years, new studies reveal why this saying is true. Turns out the humble apple has remarkable antioxidant and disease-fighting capabilities.

Immune boosters in a group of antioxidants called flavonoids are at the center of the story, with scientists calculating that the flavonoid power in just one apple is equal to 1,500 mg of vitamin C. And aside from protecting your heart from dangerous free radicals, flavonoids raise your HDL (good cholesterol) and have a blood thinning effect, which lowers your risk of blood clots.

The results of recent research, including the Women’s Health Initiative and the Harvard Nurse’s Health studies, show that women who ate at least one apple a day were:

• 22 percent less likely to develop heart disease
• 37 percent less likely to develop lung cancer
• 20 percent less likely to develop all forms of cancer

These are impressive results. Can you imagine the hype if a single drug could provide this kind of disease protection?

So it’s worth reminding yourself to put a bag of apples in your shopping cart each week. Other good sources of flavonoids include red grapes, tomatoes, onions, green tea, dark chocolate, blueberries, broccoli, and kale. Small portions eaten regularly are your best bet.

[Ed. Note: Dr. Sears, a practicing physician and the author of The Doctor’s Heart Cure, is a leading authority on longevity, physical fitness, and heart health.]
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It’s Fun to Know: About Toothbrushes

• Ancient civilizations (going back to 3000 BC) used "chew sticks" (small twigs with a frayed end) to clean their teeth.
 • Early toothbrushes were made of bristles from boars. The earliest record of a bristle toothbrush is about AD 1600 in China. Nylon bristles didn’t replace natural swine bristles until the 20th century.
  • William Addis (of Clerkenwald, England) created the first mass-produced toothbrush in 1780.

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Word to the Wise: Palliate
 
To "palliate" (PAL-ee-ate) - from the Latin for "to conceal" - is to reduce the intensity/severity of something.
 
Example (as used by Steven Polansky in Harper's Magazine): "I had held a hope that … I would have the chance not only to cope with but to help palliate her pain." 
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These articles appear courtesy of Early to Rise [Issue #1964, 02-13-07], the Internet's most popular health, wealth, and success e-zine. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com/.