Phenolic Antioxidants

     Researchers at the University of California at Davis (UC Davis) studied the effects of some phenolic compounds (phytochemicals) in apples against LDL (damaging) cholesterol. They concluded that the compounds were very advantageous by acting as antioxidants against the LDL.
     The study, published in the April 16, 1999 issue of Life Sciences, found these antioxidants in apple juice as well as whole apples. Dr. Eric Gershwin, chief of the Division of Rheumatology, Allergy and Clinical Immunology at the UC Davis School of Medicine and Medical Center and a co-author of the research study, made the suggestion that those who have a meal of too much fatty food, such as from menus at many fast-food restaurants, use apple juice as an accompanying beverage to help reduce the potential damage of the fat. Liquid apples are healthful just like eaten apples.
     The researchers also recommended that the apple-juice habit instilled by many parents in their young children should be encouraged into a life-long practice. Cardiovascular deterioration usually does not begin late in life. It merely becomes manifested then after years of damage done by an accumulation of poor food choices. Good habits, according to the researchers, should be started early and maintained thereafter. Eating and drinking plenty of apples-that's a good habit.

Flavonoids

Apples are also a good source of flavonoids, which are naturally occurring plant compounds. As antioxidants, they're thought to reduce the rate of oxidation of LDL cholesterol, inhibiting the growth of dangerous plaques along blood vessel walls.
     European researchers have been using apples as a key element in assessing the relationship between flavonoid intake and cardiovascular experiences in humans.

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