Eating a Granny Smith, the matriarch of apples, each day could stave off obesity, suggests a new study that looks at the benefits and effects of daily apple consumption on digestive health.
Non-digestible compounds that are found in a variety of apples help to promote the growth of friendly gut bacteria leading to stabilization of metabolism, according to the study published in the journal Food Chemistry.
Researchers studied various types of apples including Granny Smith, Gala, McIntosh, Fuji, Golden Delicious, Red Delicious and Braeburn. Granny Smith apples were shown to contain the highest amount of the non-digestible compounds.
These compounds include dietary fiber and antioxidants (polyphenols) that can survive the journey through the digestive system and not get broken down by stomach acid and digestive enzymes, making them able to reach the colon intact. This allows the compounds to then be fermented by bacteria in the colon, assisting in the growth of gut-friendly bacteria.
For the study, researchers analyzed droppings of mice, some of which were obese, that were fed different types of fruit. It was found that the droppings of overweight mice who ate Granny Smith apples changed to become more similar to that of slim mice.
The results of the study could aid in the prevention of health issues that can be associated with obesity, such as diabetes and others.
Obesity is preventable and 65% of the world’s population live in countries where overweight and obesity kills more people than underweight, according to the World Health Organization (WHO.)
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