My recent post, "Does An Apple A Day Keep Statins Away?" referred to a study by a prominent British doctor and his research team, published in the British Medical Journal, that showed that eating an apple a day (in place of less healthy foods) may be just as effective as statin drugs at reducing your risk of cardiovascular death without the side effects and cost of the drugs. Just yesterday, I came across an article, "An Apple A Day Helps Prevent Heart Disease In Just One Month", which referenced an Ohio State University study recently published online in The Journal of Functional Foods on this very same topic.
The study showed that in healthy middle aged adults, the consumption of just one apple a day for four weeks dramatically lowered plasma concentrations of LDL. The study further showed that capsules of apple polyphenol extract also lowered LDL, but not as much as the whole apples! So once again, we have scientific proof that a simple dietary change can have a major effect on a cardiovascular health risk factor. Click here to read the study abstract and go eat an organic apple!