Anti-Cancer Apples

Over the last decade, a host of studies have been done on the anti-cancer properties of apples. Many of these studies have made headlines by producing surprising and favorable results.

Although most of the studies done thus far have focused on specific chemical compounds or nutrients in apples, when we look at the nutrients studied together we get a clearer picture of apples as anti-cancer powerhouses.

Due to the weight of mounting evidence for apples’ anti-cancer properties, they have been added to the American Institute of Cancer Research’s “Foods That fight Cancer” list.

Aspects of apples studied in relationship to anti-cancer properties and other disease prevention:

-       Vitamin C (antioxidant)

-       Fiber/Pectin (cleansing, lowering cholesterol)

-       Flavonoids, such as quercetin (which slow development of cancers of the colon, lung and breast.)

-       Triterpenoids, found in the peels of apples (which inhibit or kill cancer cells)

-       Oligosaccharides (which kill cancer cells)

Along with these anti-cancer benefits, apples may also help ward off strokes and give you better lungs. If I were an apple grower I would get planting, or rather grafting!

Although it’s become a common saying, don’t just expect to “eat an apple and keep the doctor away,” regardless of the rest of your diet and lifestyle. Just as viewing an apple’s multiple beneficial nutrients together gives a much clearer picture of its anti-cancer properties, when we think about our health it’s best to look at our diets and lifestyles as a whole…

For compassion, for ethics, for the environment, for the phytochemicals, whole foods and plant-based is the way to go!