An apple doesn’t keep the doctor away.
A new study that was published on Monday in an April Fools edition of the journal JAMA Internal Medicine showed that daily apple-eaters were just as likely to go the doctors as others, according to USA Today.
“Everybody thinks of the apple as a healthy food, and it is, but after adjusting for other variables we didn’t find a difference in doctor visits between apple eaters and non-apple eaters,” stated Matthew Davis of the University of Michigan School of Nursing in Ann Arbor, who led the study.
For the study, researchers analyzed the data from 8,399 U.S. adults who completed questionnaires between 2007 and 2010 as part of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, according to the NY Daily News. Only 9 percent reportedly ate at least one small apple a day.
Although at first glance it seemed that those eating apples were keeping the doctor away with less self-reported visits to health care providers, the difference reportedly wasn’t statistically significant after adjusting for socioeconomic factors and other health characteristics.
Apple eaters were reportedly noticeably less likely to get prescription medications.
Even though eating an apple a day won’t necessarily keep the doctor away, the new study doesn’t discredit the fact that eating apples is a healthy habit. Apples can reportedly help with weight loss, reduced cancer risk and improved cardiovascular health.
“While we appreciate the University of Michigan took the time to put the ‘apple a day’ adage to the test, it’s foolish to even imply you shouldn’t enjoy a daily apple for your health when centuries of advice and stacks of current research would imply otherwise,” explained Wendy Brannen, director of public relations for the U.S. Apple Association.
