Depending on an apple to help you evade the doctor's office? Well, think again. According to a new study an apple a day doesn't do anything to help to keep you healthy and avoid a trip to the doctor's. In the research it was found that daily apple eaters also make the same amount of trips to the doctor as compared with people who eat lesser apples or no apple at all.
But this doesn't mean apple has effect on your health. It may not completely keep the doctor away but it may help you reduce your medical bills. It was found that people who eat apples regularly made fewer visits to the doctors than people who do not eat apples.
The study said "Our findings suggest that the promotion of apple consumption may have limited benefit in reducing national health care spending. In the age of evidence-based assertions, however, there may be merit to saying 'An apple a day keeps the pharmacist away.'"
JAMA Internal Medicine on Monday published the study by Dr Matthew Davis is his team of researchers from The University of Michigan School. In the study, a survey was conducted and 8,400 U.S. adults were questioned about the food they ate recently in the previous 24 hours and their medication in the past year. It was found that 9% of the adults ate an apple daily (753 peoples were apple eaters and consumed 149g apples daily). The daily apple consumers were found to be 27% less likely to visit the doctor. In addition, the people who ate apple daily were more educated and less like to smoke, compared with the non-apple eaters.
There are also certain limitations present regarding this study as it conducted the survey of food consumed in the previous 24 hours. Therefore, the overall eating habits were not reflected. The other negative is that the study lacks information on the health of apple eaters and non-apple eaters and the reason for the doctor's visit is not included.
