Help fight asthma

Childhood asthma is on the rise in the United States, and researchers say the results suggest that eating more apples while pregnant may help prevent children from the disease. Apples are high in antioxidants, which may help protect your lungs from oxidative damage.

Oxidative damage is caused by an excess of harmful molecules known as free radicals. This may cause your body to react in an inflammatory and allergic manner. The antioxidant quercetin found in apple peel can help regulate your immune system and prevent inflammation. This may theoretically make apples helpful in the late stages of bronchial asthma responses. Quercetin may be good therapy for allergic inflammatory disorders including asthma and sinusitis, according to test-tube and animal research. Other compounds in apples, such as proanthocyanidins, may also help to lessen or prevent allergic asthma airway inflammation. However, more human study on the subject is still required.