Apples Lower Bad Cholesterol in Women

WASHINGTONEating an apple a day may provide long-term cardioprotective effects in postmenopausal women by lowering levels of bad cholesterol and improving levels of good cholesterol without causing weight gain, according to new research presented April 12 at the Experimental Biology 2011 annual meeting.

Florida State University researchers randomly assigned 160 women ages 45 to 65 to one of two dietary intervention groupsone received dried apples daily (75g/day for one year) and the other group ate dried prunes daily for one year. Blood samples were taken at three, six and 12 months.

After six months, women who ate an apple every day experienced a 23-percent decrease in LDL cholesterol and had lower levels of lipid hydroperoxide and C-reactive protein.

The extra 240 calories per day consumed from the dried apple did not lead to weight gain in the women; in fact, they lost on average 3.3 pounds. The researchers noted part of the reason for the weight loss could be the fruits pectin, which is known to have a satiety effect.