A study released today showcases dramatic results off of a simple apple regimen; one cup of apples per day statistically lowered bad cholesterol levels, c-reactive protein (a protein that rises in response to inflammation) and lipid hydroperoxide, the latter of which can cause internal cell damage.

"Women who ate 75 grams of dried apples every day for six months had a 23 percent decrease in bad LDL cholesterol," said study researcher Bahram H. Arjmandi, professor and chair of the department of nutrition at the Florida State University.

As part of the study, Arjmandi's research group randomly assigned 160 women ages 45 to 65 to one of two groups; one that ate about 1/3 cup a day of dried apples, and the other that ate a similar amount of other dried fruit. Blood samples of both groups were taken at three, six, and 12 months. Women who ate the dried apples, which amount to the same as eating a cup of fresh apples, saw improvements that also included an average drop in weight of 3.3lbs over 12 months. This is likely due in part to pectin in apples, which can make a person feel full.

Initially, Arjmandi's main focus of the study was actually to evaluate the effect of prunes on bone health. The full results of the year-long study, which was partially funded by the United States Department of Agriculture, were produced at the Experimental Biology 2011 meeting today. As they were a small group, Arjmandi is looking to do a multi-state large-scale trial with 10,000 people, to replicate the results. As such, this should be considered preliminary information which will need to be validated and independently confirmed.