Eat an apple a day to live longer

An apple a day keeps the doctor away. Now, scientists claim the fruit may help one live longer — at least among flies.

Researchers at the Chinese University of Hong Kong found that when given an apple extract, fruit flies, which share many genes with humans despite their tiny size, lived 10% longer than those fed normally. The flies with normal diet lived an average of 50 days — five days fewer than those whose food was supplemented with apple extract, the Daily Mail reported.

Not only did the flies given the apple extract live 10% longer, they also found it easier to walk, climb and move about as they aged.

The apple extract also cut levels of various biochemicals found in older fruit flies and linked to age-related deterioration, the researchers found.

They believe that the antioxidants in the extract mopped up free radicals, the dangerous chemicals blamed for a host of ills, including ageing.

“The results, obtained with fruit flies — stand-ins for humans in hundreds of research projects each year — bolster similar findings on apple antioxidants in other animal tests,” said a spokesman for the American Chemical Society.

In another study, researchers who quizzed women about their diets found that those who regularly ate apples were 20% less likely to suffer heart attacks and strokes.