“An apple a day keeps a doctor away”. We have been listening to this very well liked aphorism from our childhood. This proverbial advice of eating an apple a day came into existence in 1866. 150 years later, a medical general published a study on April fool’s day questioning about the popular wisdom. Taking the excuse of April fool’s day, a medical general asked, Does eating an apple a day affect our immunity or prevent us from going to doctor?
The Aphorism ‘An apple a day keeps the doctor away’ really appeared in 1913. This was the first time when it appeared in a difficult and rhyming way. 149 years ago in Wales, the saying ‘Eat an apple on going to bed and you will keep the doctor from earning his bread’ was very popular in Pembrokeshire.
The researchers of the University of Michigan School of nursing in Ann Arbor claimed this, a healthy wisdom and gift of our predecessors.
Matthew Davis, Ph.D. scholar and some co-authors began an initiative to go for the study of the saying of eating an apple every day. They tried to evaluate the difference between people who eat an apple every day and every day and non-eaters of Apple. They get through a study by evaluating the number of visits to the doctor, some social-demographic and health-related spares.
So, did it work?
No, not really. The dictum of eating fruit every day meet no verification. There can be no meaningful differences found between a daily fruit eater and non-eaters of Apple.
What did the social democratic and health-related affairs declare?
In the run of seeking verification of the aphorism, fruit every day, keeps a doctor away’, people triggered some evaluation and studies. The study was based on people considering their education and their habit of smoking. In the National Health and nutrition examination survey of 2007-08 and 2009-10, it was found that the people who generally smoke and belong to racial and ethnic groups eat fruit every day whereas the non-Apple eaters were less educated and were less addicted to smoking and alcohol products.F
What can be concluded ?
It is long-run wisdom. The people who eat fruit every day are more likely to keep themselves away from the doctor away than that of a non-eater of apple. However, it is not important that a person who eats fruit a day, would never be ill or sick or the non-eater of apple would remain sick just because he/she does not eat fruit a day. As this is an age of evidence-based affirmations, so no study can prove this proverbial advice.
The overall conclusion can be framed as, saying this proverb brings limited benefit. It would be good to say that ‘ fruit day keeps the pharmacist away’ rather than saying ‘fruit a day keeps the doctor away’.
