New study says eating apples before meals helps with weight loss

Sep 14, 2011 7:19pm

(NECN: Melissa Toupin, Worcester, MA) – There’s a new study in Appetite Magazine that says eating an apple before every meal could help with weight loss.

So where better to head than to one of the most popular apple orchards in central Massachusetts?

In addition to working at Charlton Orchards, Cheryl Orrell is a regular customer and says apple picking is a family tradition.

“We pick every year. I take my three kids and we come to the orchard,” said Orrell.

This season, all apple pickers might have an added incentive to bringing home all those apples: weight loss.

New research published in Appetite Magazine shows that eating an apple prior to lunch helps reduce calories at that meal by 15 percent or 185 calories.

Stephanie Lacroix is a registered dietician at UMass Medical Center in Worcester.

“Basically you are curbing your appetite a little,” Lacroix said. “You are putting something into your belly before a meal, so you eat less.”

This study says the daily calorie reductions could translate into a loss of about a pound and a half a month, or 20 pounds a year.

Even though treats like pies and cider donuts are made from apples, they may not be as nice to your waist line, but they are still delicious.

“A treat here and there is okay, but not all the time and not a lot of it” said Lacroix.

Patty Benjamin owns Charlton Orchards.

She says the study couldn’t have come out at a more perfect time; apple-picking season officially kicked off last week.

Though Benjamin says the information isn’t news to her.

“Finish this for me: An apple a day…. Keeps the doctor away,” said Benjamin. “And we’ve known that for years.”

She says she’s a firm believer in all the nutritional benefits of apples. Benjamin says keeping the extra pounds away is one more reason for people to take a bite out of the apple season.

Tags: Apple, weight loss, Melissa Toupin, appetite magazine, charlton orchards, apple orchards

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