It’s no wonder Washington apples make for a deliciously healthy snack

It's good to have friends in high places and the experts at USApple have fast become ours.

Helping to support scientific research for a better understanding of the short- and long-term benefits of apples as part of a healthy lifestyle, they have been relentless in their search for the facts.

Eating one large apple provides 20% of the recommended daily value of dietary fibre, 8% of the antioxidant Vitamin C, and 7% of your day’s potassium.

All of that from just a few juicy, crunchy bites of a USA Washington apple. Plus, just 130 calories — with no fat, no sodium, and no cholesterol.

It's a no-brainer.

So what do you need to do?

The USDA’s dietary guidelines recommends eating two cups of fresh fruit a day.

If you're reaching for an apple, that’s the equivalent of one of the following:

1. Two small apples
2. One large apple
3. Two cups of sliced or diced apples

The science

Some of the most recent findings include weight loss, helping fight cancer and keeping your lungs healthy.

Weight loss

Researchers from the State University of Rio de Janeiro studying the impact of fruit intake on weight loss found that overweight women who ate the equivalent of three apples or pears a day lost more weight on a low-calorie diet than women who didn’t add fruit to their diet.

Cancer fighting

Quercetin, a flavonoid found naturally in apples, has been identified as one of the most beneficial flavonols in preventing and reducing the risk of pancreatic cancer. Although the overall risk was reduced among the study participants, smokers who consumed foods rich in flavonols had a significantly greater risk reduction.

Lung Health

Research from the UK reports that children of mothers who eat apples during pregnancy are much less likely to exhibit symptoms of asthma, including wheezing, at age 5. Among a variety of foods consumed and recorded by pregnant women, apples were the only food found to have a positive association with a reduced risk of asthma.