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Study: An Apple A Day Really Does Keep The Doctor Away

BRIGGSDALE, Colo. (CBS4) - It's official -- a new study concludes that an apple a day can help keep the doctor away. CBS4 health reporter Kathy Walsh shared the research with one very happy Colorado apple grower.

Red delicious and Granny Smith are just two of 2,500 varieties of apples in the U.S. and 7,500 worldwide. Now new research pits apples against prunes.

Researchers studied 160 women ages 45 to 65 for a year. One group got dried apples daily, the other ate dried prunes. At 6 months, the apple eating women showed a 23 percent decrease in LDL, the so-called "bad cholesterol" and a heart disease risk factor. The apple eaters also lost weight -- an average of 3 pounds in a year.

The researchers were surprised, but not apple grower Walt Rosenberg.

"Grandma used to say that 100 years ago, so it just kind of validates some of the old things that families and grandmas always knew," Rosenberg said.

Rosenberg runs Masonville Orchards. His apple trees in Briggsdale are just beginning to bud. He specializes in the antique and heirloom varieties not found in the supermarket.

"Arkansas black, we're going to have Chenango strawberry, we're going to have scarlet surprise, which is a red-fleshed apple," he said.

Rosenberg is delighted that scientists are polishing the apple's reputation.

"People should eat more apples, and that's good for us, we'd love to see them eat not one a day, but two or three."

Now he's hoping for a bumper crop.

Experts says one reason apples help the heart is they're rich in pectin. Pectin is a soluble fiber that blocks cholesterol absorption. Apple peels are also packed with antioxidants.

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