The old adage ‘An Apple a day keeps the doctor away’ as per the researchers stands persecuted! According to them the new saying goes, ‘100 Apples away keep the Doctor away!’

IT’S a common complaint of marathon runners and soldiers. As they generally tend to overdo exercise and fall victim to illness, particularly chest infections. Now it seems that quercetin - a flavonoid found in fruits such as apples, berries and tea - may aid in protecting them as per American researchers’ newly conducted research.

DARPA, the Pentagon’s research arm, has been sponsoring studies into whether quercetin could be used to help protect US troops.

For the past few years, DARPA - the Pentagon’s research arm - has been sponsoring studies of quercetin in the hope that it could protect US troops. “During missions, soldiers are running around for two or three days with heavy packs on. They don’t eat or sleep, and infections are as much of a problem if not a more serious issue than injuries,” says David Nieman at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina, who led the research.

The latest trial saw 40 male cyclists either given one gram of the flavenoid every day - equaled eating 100 apples - or a placebo for three weeks.
According to an article in the New Scientist journal, the cyclists spent a three-day period training at maximum intensity for three hours a day. Two weeks later, nine of the cyclists in the placebo group had chest infections while only one of the quercetin group was ill.
Tests showed the cyclists taking the supplement had high levels of quercetin in their blood.
The scientist believes quercetin’s ability to bind to viruses and bacteria to stop them replicating had stopped the cyclists getting sick.
He also found the cyclists had reduced levels of IL-8, a chemical that helps mediate the immune response to antigens, indicating the flavenoid could also be influencing the immune system in some way.
Holden MacRae, at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California, said the study provided “important new evidence” about the health benefits of polyphenols in general and quercetin in particular.
Bye - bye to vows of illness as apples are there to save the day!

link:http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/health/dietfitness.html?in_article_id=481598&in_page_id=1774&ito=1490″>