AN APPLE A DAY KEEPS THE DOCTOR AWAY ! is it true?

An apple a day Keeps the doctor away ! is it true?

Apples in the attic,
Apples in the hall,
Apples in the summer,
Apples in the fall.
Apples make you healthy,
Apples make you tall.
I will eat some apples,
I will eat them all!

A number of rhymes, proverbs, quotes are their acclaiming the importance of apple. It is true that Apples have a good claim to promote health. They contain Vitamin C, and beta-carotene. Vitamin C is a powerful natural antioxidant which aid the immune system and phenols, which reduce cholesterol. They also reduce tooth decay by cleaning one's teeth and killing off bacteria

Apples are low in calories; 100 g of fresh fruit slices provide only 50 calories. The fruits are however, contain no saturated fats or cholesterol; but rich in dietary fiber, which helps, prevent absorption of dietary LDL cholesterol in the gut. The dietary fibers also help protect the mucous membrane of the colon from exposure to toxic substances by binding to cancer causing chemicals in the colon. It has also been reported that the quercetin ( flavanoid) apples protects brain cells against neuro-degenerative disorders like Alzheimer's Disease.

BUT………

According to a new survey by the green activists at the Environmental Working Group (EWG), apples are the most contaminated produce on average, with pesticides showing up on 98% of the more than 700 apple samples tested. “Dirty Dozen” list of the most contaminated produce, followed by grapes, strawberries and oranges, all of which had more than 90% of samples testing positive for pesticide residue.

What is an alternative?

Please see the nutrition chart of various fruits.

Fruit 100g	Energy Kcal	Water %	Fiber G	Fat g	Protein g	Sugar g	Vitamin ( in mg)
							A	C	B1	BB2	B6	E
	49	84	2.3	0	0.4	11.8	2	15	0.02	0.01	0.05	0.5
	88	76	2.7	0	1.2	20.4	3	10	0.04	0.03	0.36	0.3
	300	20	7.5	0	2.0	73.0	0	0	0.05	0.10	0.10	0.7
	64	83	2.2	0	0.6	15.5	0	3	0.03	0.01	0.08	0.6
	72	81	5.3	0	1.0	17.0	30	218	0.04	0.04	0.14	-
	40	88	3.2	0	1.0	9.0	0	30	0.02	0.01	0.08	0.4
	60	84	1.0	0	0.0	15.0	210	53	0.05	0.06	0.13	1.0
	32	91	0.6	0	0.0	8.0	40	46	0.03	0.04	0.04
	50	84	1.2	0	0.4	12.0	20	25	0.07	0.02	0.09	0.
	88	83	2	0.3	1	18	39	18	.03	.11

# Depending on variety the nutrition may vary.

If you compare Nutritional Values of various fruits it can be find that so much importance is not to be given to apple. For eg:- Guavas can provide as much as 218mg of vitamin C per 100g serving, in case of papaya it provides 46mg per 100 gram serving while vitamin C in apple is only 15 mg.

Hence choice left with us are:

Use Certified Organic Fruits (if you can afford.)

Or

Use locally available seasonal fruits.

Foot note:-

A number of variants of the rhyme were in circulation around the turn of the 20th century. Devonian dialect version “An apple a day Keeps the doctor away” is “Ait a happle avore gwain to bed, An' you'll make the doctor beg his bread”; In Old English the word apple was used to describe any round fruit that grew on a tree.

We should promote locally available indigenous fruits.