Before you start emailing me saying, "Wide-Body, enough with the apple posts! We get it, apples are good for you!", just remember that I do this because I love you. Now brush your teeth and go to bed.

Seriously, I hear ya about the apples and this is probably my thrid or fourth post in the last two months about apples. Yet, I keep running into more GREAT health news about apples that I think everyone can benefit from knowing.

The latest comes from an article in Eating Well, located here: http://www.eatingwell.com/health/nutrition_watch/apples_for_your_heart.html

Please go to the site for details, the highlights are below.

Can eating an apple help protect you from metabolic syndrome—a cluster of symptoms related to an increased risk of heart disease? It’s possible, say researchers who analyzed data from the 1999-2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. In the survey, people who reported consuming any form of apples within the past day were 27 percent less likely to have symptoms of metabolic syndrome—like high blood pressure or a waist measurement of over 40 inches (for men) or 35 inches (for women)—compared to those who didn’t. The apple eaters also had lower levels of C-reactive protein, a marker of inflammation whose presence in the blood suggests an increased risk for heart disease and diabetes.

the Iowa Women’s Health Study reported that, among the 34,000-plus women it’s been tracking for nearly 20 years, apples were associated with a lower risk of death from both coronary heart disease and cardiovascular disease.

Researchers suggest that the strong antioxidant flavonoid compounds found in apples—quercetin, epicatechin, epigallocatechin, kaempferol and other polysyllabic wonders—play a key role by preventing LDL cholesterol from oxidizing and triggering a series of events that result in the buildup of plaque in arteries, as well as inhibiting inflammation.