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Here are a few reasons why eating more apples can help keep you healthy, along with someapple-licious ways to add them to your meals.
How to Choose the Perfect Apples for Eating Fresh, Salads, Baking and Applesauce
Apple Nutrition
The nutrition varies slightly between the different apple varieties, but not all that much. Here’s the nutrition breakdown for one medium apple, per theUSDA.
Apples are high in water content—they’re about 85% water—and rich infiber(a medium apple contains 4 grams or about 16% of your daily value), two things you need to feel full. Apples have one other feel-full benefit: They take time to eat. Foods you can gobble down quickly tend to leave you hungry, so you end up eating more.
Apples also have a low glycemic index, which means yourblood sugar levelsdon’t spike when you eat them. So while a rosy Red Delicious or sunny Honeycrisp might taste amazingly sweet, your body is able to process the sugar in a manageable way.
And because apples are both sweetandfilling, snacking on an apple can be a smart way to respond to cravings. Just be sure to eat the whole fruit, peel and all, as the peel also contains fiber and nutrients. In fact, a 2022 study inFoodsshowed that the peel of Fuji apples contributes to 41% of the apple’s total flavonoid content and 31% of the phenolic content of the entire apple (flavonoids and phenols have antioxidant properties).
Health Benefits of Apples
1. Protects Your Heart
Pictured Recipe:Apple-Cinnamon Quinoa Bowl
Multiple studies show apples are good for your ticker in many ways. In a large 2020 review inCritical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, researchers combed through 16 studies that looked at apple consumption and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. They found that whole apple consumption was associated with a reduced risk of dying from CVD, ischemic heart disease, stroke, severe abdominal aortic calcification, as well as dying from anything.
Specifically, these researchers found that whole apple consumption reduced total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol (“bad” cholesterol), systolic blood pressure, pulse pressure and plasma inflammatory cytokines. In turn, apple consumption can increase HDL cholesterol, the helpful form of cholesterol. These researchers state that these findings are based on 100 g to 150 g of apple consumption a day, which is about two medium-sized apples.
2. Boosts Brain Health
In a 2018 study published inNutrients, Swedish researchers following 2,000 people for six years found that those who stuck to a diet called the Nordic Prudent Dietary Pattern (NPDP) hadbetter cognitive functionthan people who ate more fatty, processed foods. Among other things, the NPDP calls for eating plenty of non-root vegetables, plus pears, peaches and—you guessed it—apples.
In a 2022 study inAlzheimer’s Research and Therapy, older adults who followed theMIND diet—a fusion of the Mediterranean diet and the DASH diet, both of which stress eating fresh fruits and vegetables—had a lower risk of developing dementia. Experts point out that more research is needed, but the results look promising.
Looking more specifically at components in foods like apples, tea and berries, 2020 research inThe American Journal of Clinical Nutritionfound that people with low intake of foods with high levels of antioxidant-like components had higher rates of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD). Specifically, a low intake of components called flavonoid polymers, found in apples, pears and tea, was associated with twice the risk of developing ADRD. Similar results were found regarding AD.
What Does a Day of Fruits and Vegetables Look Like?
3. May Help You Lose Weight
Pictured Recipe:Apple-Crisp-Stuffed Baked Apples
One medium apple can help fill you up for under 100 calories, so it’s no surprise that apples canhelp with weight loss. A 2018 review in theJournal of the American College of Nutritionshows many associations between apple consumption and weight loss.
Is Eating Fruit Bad for Weight Loss?
4. Lowers Risk of Type 2 Diabetes
A 2019 meta-analysis published inCurrent Developments in Nutritionthat included a total of 339,383 participants over several studies, suggests that regularly eating apples, pears or a combination of the two can lower your risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
A 2021 systematic review inBMJ Nutrition Prevention & Healthalso suggests that a high intake of apples and other fruit (including pears, blueberries, grapefruit and grapes) is related to about a 7% reduced risk of type 2 diabetes.
5. Fights Cancer
Pictured Recipe:Turkey-Apple-Brie Sandwiches
Including apples in your diet is linked with a lower risk of several cancers. For example, a 2021 review inNutrientslooked at studies that found that the consumption of apples seems to be related to a reduced risk of lung, bladder, breast, pancreatic, colorectal, pharynx, esophagus, ovary, renal and prostate cancers. That’s a lot of protection in that one fruit!
In addition to preventing cancers, researchers state that the phytochemicals in apples can also help slow down the progression of cancer. Just make sure you’re eating the whole fruit and not tossing the peel—that’s where many of the cancer-fighting antioxidants are found.
The Bottom Line
Like any other food, apples are not a magic bullet for all things health. But including them regularly in your diet, along with other fruits and vegetables, may allow you to reap many of the health benefits shown here. And while we love eating apples as is, we also love including them in our recipes, likeSausage-Stuffed Apples,Curried Chicken Apple WrapsorRoasted Squash & Apples with Dried Cherries & Pepitas. You can also simply dice and toss them into your salads.
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