Apple Health Benefits Drive Marketing And Sales
May 1, 2009 Any way you slice it, apples are good for your health. Red, green, golden, or striped, researchers around the world continue to uncover the apple’s nutritive power and increasingly important role in preventing disease and combating the onset of life-threatening ailments. These factors are generating increased consumer interest in — and enhancing the marketing potential for — the once forbidden fruit.
In fact, a survey released late last year from the Food Marketing Institute and Prevention magazine, “Shopping for Health 2008,” shows that 74% of consumers are trying to eat and shop healthier. Another consumer survey from the International Food Information Council found similar results.
Understanding the health benefits of apples will help you to develop effective marketing strategies and drive apple sales. USApple annually funds and promotes numerous nutrition-health studies associated with apples, including research conducted by Cornell University, Michigan State University, Penn State University, the University of Massachusetts, and Washington State University, among others.
The following is a snapshot of recent findings.
Heart Health
New and emerging apple research continues to suggest that the apple’s unique nutrient composition and the presence of flavonoids combine to decrease the risk of heart disease. High concentrations of antioxidants and fiber — approximately 5 grams per fruit — act to improve blood lipid profiles and lower blood pressure. Apples are especially high in soluble fiber, which helps to regulate and even lower cholesterol by preventing fatty buildup in the blood vessels.
Additionally, recent USApple-funded research showed that adult apple and apple product consumers had significantly reduced C-reactive protein levels, another measurable marker related to cardiovascular risk.
Metabolic Syndrome
Research has also shown that adults who eat apples, apple juice, and applesauce have a significantly reduced risk of metabolic syndrome, a cluster of health problems that are linked to chronic diseases like diabetes and cardiovascular disease. When compared to non-consumers, adult apple product consumers had a 27% decreased likelihood of being diagnosed with the disease. Metabolic syndrome, also known as Syndrome X and insulin resistance syndrome, is defined as having three or more of the associated symptoms, which include elevated blood pressure, increased waist size and abdominal fat, and elevated c-reactive protein levels. It is believed to affect an estimated 36 million Americans.
Colon Health
In the journal Nutrition, German researchers reported that the compound butyrate is increased in the presence of apple pectin and apple juice extracts. Butyrate is a short chain fatty acid and is considered to be a chemopreventative agent and a major contributing factor to a healthy colon. The research found that the increased production of butyrate from the addition of apple components results in significantly less growth of precancerous and tumor cells.
Breast Cancer
Six studies published in the past year, including one released in February by Cornell researcher Rui Hai Liu, add to growing evidence that apple consumption significantly inhibits the growth of breast cancer tumors.
Dr. Liu’s latest study reports that fresh apple extracts significantly inhibited the size of mammary tumors in rats — and the more extracts they were given, the greater the inhibition. Not only did the treated animals have fewer tumors, but the tumors were smaller, less malignant, and grew more slowly compared with the tumors in the untreated rats.
Brain Power
Multiple studies from Cornell University and the University of Massachusetts-Lowell have found that apple products may help boost brain function. As little as two apples or glasses of apple juice a day may help to protect brain cells from oxidative damage known to cause neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer’s disease.
Asthma And Lung Function
While research has shown that apples may improve respiratory conditions in adults, eating apples while pregnant may also improve an unborn child’s lung function. Researchers from The Netherlands and Scotland concluded that mothers who eat apples during pregnancy may protect their children from developing asthma later in life. Children of mothers who ate apples during pregnancy were much less likely to exhibit symptoms of asthma (including wheezing).
To learn more about the nutritional value and health benefits of apples and apple products, visit the U.S. Apple Association website, www.usapple.org.
Subscribe Today For
