Washington: The phrase “an apple a day keeps the doctor away” might not be true any longer as apples cannot really do that; however, it can help using fewer prescription medications.
The study compared daily apple eaters (those who consumed at least 1 small apple per day or 149 grams of raw apple) with non-apple eaters. Of the 8,399 survey participants who completed a dietary recall questionnaire, 753 (9%) were apple eaters and 7,646 (91%) were non-apple eaters.
The study found that apple eaters had higher educational attainment, were more likely to be from a racial or ethnic minority, and were less likely to smoke and the authors measured “keeping the doctor away” as no more than one self-reported visit to a physician during the past year.
The study suggested that the promotion of apple consumption may have limited benefit in reducing national health care spending and in the age of evidence-based assertions, however, there may be merit to saying ‘An apple a day keeps the pharmacist away’.
The study is published online by JAMA Internal Medicine.Â
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