Does an Apple a day really keep the doctor away?

We have all heard the phrase – ‘An Apple a day keeps the doctor away’. What we don’t know is that this is actually derived from the English proverb –  “An apple before going to bed keeps the doctor from earning his bread.” We have mindlessly used the phrase time and again without once stopping to think if this is actually a valid statement. Are apples truly the fruit that can keep us disease-free? 

We know that apples are rich in Vitamin C, A and E. They’re also rich in phytonutrients that prevent heart disease and diabetes. Apples has has an added effect of teeth whitening. According to present research, foods that are firm or crisp are known to help clean teeth as they’re eaten. They can also destroy the bacteria in your mouth and prevent tooth decay.

So finally, a group of researches decided to test out the validity of this age-old statement and guess what they found? The phrase may have been slightly misguided. The study was found in JAMA Internal Medicine which is a medical journal published twice a month by the American Medical Association and found that those who eat apples daily had just as many doctor visits as those who did not regularly eat the fruit. However, the study also found that daily apple eaters are less likely to use prescription medications.

Researched compared daily apple eaters with non-apple eaters. Researchers at the University of Michigan School of Nursing, Ann Arbor, and colleagues measured “keeping the doctor away” as no more than one self-reported visit to a physician during the past year.

“Our findings suggest that the promotion of apple consumption may have limited benefit in reducing national health care spending. The study concluded that, “In the age of evidence-based assertions, however, there may be merit to saying ‘An apple a day keeps the pharmacist away’ instead of ‘an apple a day keeps the doctor away’.”