Lending credence to the old adage about eating an apple a day, a new study finds that women who ate the fruit daily saw improvements in cholesterol levels and markers of inflammation — suggesting a lower risk of heart disease — in a year's time.

“每日一苹果，医生远离我”的言语流传已久，而一份最新的医学研究发现，在一年的时间内，每日食用苹果的女性胆固醇的水平有所改善，并且减少了炎症的发生，这也就意味着降低了患心脏病的几率。

The study, conducted by researchers at Florida State University, involved 160 women who were randomly assigned to eat about 2.7 ounces (75 g) of dried apples or prunes (dried plums) daily. Researchers did blood tests at the three-, six- and 12-month marks to measure heart-risk factors.

这项由美国加州州立大学开展的这项研究涉及了160名女性，按照要求他们每天都会食用75克得苹果干或者杏仁干，研究者分别在第三、六、十二个月测量了她们的血液以分析心脏病诱因的情况。

After a year, the women who ate dried apples had lowered their total cholesterol by 14%; their levels of LDL (or "bad") cholesterol had fallen by 23%, and their levels of HDL (or good) cholesterol had increased by about 4%. Participants also experienced a 32% decline in C-reactive protein, an indicator of inflammation in the body and a risk factor for heart disease.

一年之后，那些食用苹果干的女性的胆固醇总量TC下降了14%，低密度脂蛋白LDLD-C，也就是通常所说的坏胆固醇含量下降了23%，高密度脂蛋白HDL-C的含量增加了4%，研究对象的C反应蛋白CRP含量下降了32%，这种蛋白质会诱发人体出现炎症的情况，是引发心脏病的诱因。

The women who ate prunes saw also slight reductions in these risk factors, but not to the same extent as those who ate apples, said study author and professor of nutrition Bahram H. Arjmandi.

营养学教授Bahram H. Arjmandi表示，食用杏仁干的女性在心脏病的诱因方面的水平也有所降低，但却不及吃苹果这组效果显著。