Table 4.
Effects of apples and apple components on blood lipid levels in humans.
| Subjects-Study Duration-Design | Diets-Daily Dose | Results | Author |
|---|---|---|---|
| 25 healthy men/women 6 weeks Randomized, crossover |
340 g apple or 375 ml apple juice | No changes: TC, LDL-C, HDL-C and TAG | Hyson et al., 2000 [155] |
| 49 hypercholesterolemic, overweight women 12 weeks (35 women) Randomized, parallel |
300 g apple or 300 g pear or 60 g oat cookies | TC: ↓ (oat group) TAG: ↑ (fruit group) |
de Oliveira et al., 2003[16] |
| 48 hypercholesterolemic men/women 4 weeks Randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled, parallel |
Control: supplement without polyphenols or Low dose: 300 mg apple polyphenols (AP) or Medium dose: 600 mg AP or High dose: 1500 mg AP | TC: ↓ 4.5% (from baseline for High dose) LDL-C: ↓ 7.8% (from baseline for High dose) No changes: HDL-C and TAG |
Nagasako-Akazome et al., 2005 [11] |
| 15 elderly 4 weeks |
Fresh apples (2 g/kg body weight, approximately 1 apple) | No changes: TC, LDL-C, HDL-C and TAG | Avci et al., 2007 [156] |
| 48 moderately obese men/women 12 weeks Randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled, parallel |
Control: capsules without polyphenols or 600 mg apple polyphenols capsules | TC: ↓ (from baseline and control group) LDL-C: ↓ (from baseline) No changes: HDL-C and TAG VFA: ↓ (from control group) Adiponectin: ↑ (from control group) |
Nagasako-Akazome et al., 2007 [12] |
| 46 overweight, hyperlipidemic men 8 weeks Randomized, controlled, parallel |
Control: no apple intake or 300 g apple | No changes: TC, LDL-C and HDL-C TAG: ↓ (in control group compared with the apple group) VLDL-C: ↓ (in control group compared with the apple group) |
Vafa et al., 2011 [157] |
| 68 overweight men 4 weeks Randomized, blinded, placebo-controlled, parallel |
Control: beverage without polyphenols or 750 ml cloudy apple juice | No changes: TC, LDL-C, HDL-C and TAG % total body fat: ↓ (from control group) Body fat mass: ↓ (only in IL-6-174 C/C variant compared with G-allele carriers). |
Barth et al., 2012 [13] |
| 160 postmenopausal women 1 year Randomized, single blinded, controlled, parallel |
Dried plum (comparative control) or 75 g dried apples | TC: ↓ (from control group) TC: ↓ 13% (from baseline) LDL-C: ↓ 24% (from baseline) TC:HDL-C: ↓ (from baseline) LDL:HDL-C: ↓ (from baseline) No changes: HDL-C and TAG |
Chai et al., 2012 [14] |
| 23 healthy men/women 4 weeks Randomised, single blinded, controlled, crossover |
Control: period of restricted diet or 550 g whole apples (WA) or 22 g apple pomace (AP) or 500 ml clear apple juice (AJ) or 500 ml cloudy AJ | Treatment resulted in significant effects in TC and LDL-C. Clear AJ: ↑ 5% TC, ↑ 6.9% LDL-C (compared with WA and AP) No changes: HDL-C and TAG |
Ravn-Haren et al, 2012 [15] |
| 20 healthy young men/women 4 weeks Randomized, crossover |
500 ml of two cloudy apple juices: 510 mg/L catechin equivalent and 60 mg/L vitamin C (VCR) or 993 mg/L catechin equivalent and 22 mg/L vitamin C (PR) | TC: ↓ 4% (VCR) No changes: LDL-C, HDL-C and TAG |
Soriano-Maldonado et al., 2014 [162] |
↑: significant increase; ↓: significant decrease; TC: total cholesterol; LDL-C: low density lipoprotein cholesterol; VLDL-C: very low density lipoprotein cholesterol; HDL-C: high density lipoprotein cholesterol; TAG: triacylglycerols; VFA: viscelar fat area.