How do apples help you lose weight?

Can an apple a day do more than keep the doctor away?  Apples of course are packed with nutrition: fiber, vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals.  Can eating apples help you with weight loss?

Fiber

One of the main reasons apples can help with weight loss is because they are high in fiber.  A high fiber diet can be beneficial for weight loss because fiber can help suppress food intake.  Fiber increases satiety, meaning it keeps you full longer.

For example, if you eat a high fiber lunch, it may decrease the amount of food you eat later in the day.  A 2010 study from the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition looked at more than 89,000 people’s diets over 6.5 years.  Research found that total fiber was inversely with weight gain and increased waist circumference.

Researchers concluded that a high intake of fiber may have a beneficial role in preventing weight gain.  An average apple has around 4-5gm of fiber.  The recommendation for fiber intake for male adults under 50 years of age is 38 grams/day, and recommendation for females under 50 years of age is 25 gm/day.

Sweet Substitute

Apples are high in fiber and low in calories.  Substituting apples for other high calorie sweets could help with weight loss and lowering calorie intake.  Sweets can be hard to cut out when trying to lose weight, and using fruit in place of sweets can be a healthy alternative.

Ideas for using apples as a sweet include:

-Eating them fresh

-Pair with a little nut butter for a satisfying snack

-Cutting them up thinly and baking them sprinkled with cinnamon to make apple chips

-Bake them so they get soft, like an apple crisp (without the added sugar and fat)

-Make homemade applesauce

-Vary your apple variety; some are sweeter or tarter than others.

-Put cut up apple pieces on top of oatmeal or salads to give a natural, high fiber sweet flavor.

Three apples per day?

Eating an apple a day provides a good source of fiber, and eating 2-3 apples per day could really bump up your fiber intake.  A 2003 study from Nutrition analyzed apple intake in overweight women aged 30-50 years.  Research participants followed a weight loss diet with either supplementing from apples, pears or oat cookies.

Researchers found a significant difference in weight loss between the fruit groups and the cookie group.  The two groups of women eating 3 apples or pears per day compared to oat cookies while following a weight loss diet lost more weight.  Researchers concluded eating apples or pears in addition to being in calorie deficit could add extra benefit for weight loss.

Apples are specifically high in soluble fiber.  Soluble fiber forms a gel like consistency when digested which stays in the stomach longer than non-fibrous foods.  Eating apples before a meal could help suppress total food volume intake.

Soluble fiber can also decrease blood sugar release after a meal and subsequently lower insulin release.  In the 2003 study, the apple and pear group had significantly lower blood glucose levels.

Protect against stress

A 2006 study in Nutrition looking at fruit intake in obese women on a hypo-caloric weight loss plan.  Researchers found a significant reduction in LDL cholesterol and increase in antioxidant capacity in participants who included fruit in their diet.

From this study, it appears that antioxidants from fruit can help lower cardiovascular disease risk and oxidative damage in the body.  Apples are rich in antioxidants, like most fruits, and could help reduce oxidative stress in the body when going through weight loss. See also: What to eat to lower your cholesterol.

Protect against cancer

Research from Cornell University suggests that compounds in apples-specifically the apple peel- could help fight off cancer cells.  Researchers identified twelve compounds in apple peels that have been shown to inhibit or kill cancer cells in cell cultures.

Other research studies have also suggested that apples have anti-cancer properties.  Eating an (or multiple) apples per day could help with weight loss, lower risk for heart disease and possibly help lower risk for certain cancers.

Conclusion

Apples are high in fiber and antioxidants.  Some research studies have shown eating apples daily could help increase weight loss when following a low calorie diet.  Apples could have additional health benefits including lowering risk for heart disease and cancer.  The fiber in apples and the antioxidants are the star ingredients in apples to give them health benefits.

Ideas to increase apple consumption include:

-eating apples for snacks in between meals

-eating apples right before a meal

-using them as replacements for other high calorie sweets.

References used in this article