%0 Journal Article
%T Apple phytochemicals and their health benefits
%A Jeanelle Boyer
%A Rui Liu
%J Nutrition Journal
%D 2004
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1475-2891-3-5
%X In the United States, as well as in most industrialized countries, cardiovascular disease and cancer are ranked as the top two leading causes of death. The causes of both diseases have been linked to lifestyle choices, and one of the most important is diet. It has been estimated that a healthy diet could prevent approximately 30% of all cancers [1,2]. High cholesterol and obesity are greatly influenced by diet and lifestyle and are costing the United States billions of dollars in health related expenses. High cholesterol, a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, is commonly treated with statin drugs, and it has been estimated that the United States will spend 30 billion dollars per year on cholesterol treatment by statin drugs [3]. In 1998, obesity, a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, cancer, and diabetes, has been estimated to cost the United States over 92 billion dollars per year [4]. Understanding the effects of diet on chronic disease may greatly aid in the prevention of chronic disease.As children, many of us were told to "eat your vegetables because they are good for you", and the adage "an apple a day keeps the doctor away" is still quite popular. Recently, many studies have provided the scientific backing for both of these very common phrases. In the early 1990's, researchers examined well over one hundred epidemiological studies relating to diet and cancer, and in 128 of 156 dietary studies, fruits and vegetables had a significant protective effect against a variety of different cancers [5]. They found that those who consumed low amounts of fruits and vegetables were twice as likely to have cancer compared to those who ate high amounts of fruits and vegetables. Recently, a study linked intake of fruits and vegetables with a reduced risk in breast cancer in woman in China [6]. In this population based, case-control study of women in Shanghai, pre-menopausal women who ate more dark yellow-orange vegetables and more citrus fruits tended to have lower b
%K apples
%K antioxidants
%K phytochemicals
%K cancer
%K cardiovascular disease
%K phenolics
%K flavonoids
%K fruit
%U http://www.nutritionj.com/content/3/1/5