Apples
An apple per day keeps the doctor away
No one single person coined the modern proverb "An apple a day keeps the doctor away"; instead, it evolved from a 19th-century Welsh proverb, "Eat an apple on going to bed, and you'll keep the doctor from earning his bread," first documented in 1866. The current phrasing first appeared in print around 1887, with the exact phrasing recorded in 1922.
1866: The first recorded instance of the phrase appeared as a proverb from Pembrokeshire, Wales, in Notes and Queries magazine: "Eat an apple on going to bed, and you'll keep the doctor from earning his bread".
Late 19th Century: The proverb was recorded in English by William Carew Hazlitt in his 1869 book, English Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases.
Late 1880s: Variations of the proverb, such as "an apple a day, no doctor to pay," appeared in print in the UK and America.
c. 1887: The more familiar version, "An apple a day keeps the doctor away," began to appear in newspapers.
1922: This specific wording was first recorded in print, according to author Caroline Taggart.
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Taken on Friday October 3, 2025
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Posted on Friday October 3, 2025
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Dinesh said:
. . . . . . I am a longstanding believer in an apple a day. There’s always a big wire basket of Galas or Fujis in my kitchen, and I break my fast with an apple over morning email. The enjoyment of apples in my home even crosses the species barrier, as our Giant Schnauzer maws down his twice-daily thyroid pill in meaty quarters of apple. But, are there true apple health benefits? Or, is this just an old adage.
So I read with great interest a report entitled “Association Between Apple Consumption and Physician Visits: Appealing the Conventional Wisdom That an Apple a Day Keeps the Doctor Away” in this week’s edition of JAMA Internal Medicine.
The report was published in the journal’s inaugural April Fools’ Day issue by a pack of parodists from Dartmouth College, the University of Michigan School of Nursing, and the Veteran Affairs Medical Center in White River. It’s based on actual national nutrition data collected from nearly 8,400 men and women — 753 of whom ate an apple a day — and follows rigorous study methods.
Disappointingly, the study concludes, “Evidence does not support that an apple a day keeps the doctor away; however, the small fraction of US adults who eat an apple a day do appear to use fewer prescription medications.”
Apples may have failed this critical scientific test, but you’ll have to pry this tasty fruit from my cold, dead fingers. I wondered if Harvard nutrition experts believe in apple health benefits as strongly as me.
“I do not eat an apple every day,” admits registered dietitian Kathy McManus, director of the Department of Nutrition at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women’s Hospital. “However, I do love apples and eat them frequently.”
McManus reassured me that, even though the JAMA study is published with tongue in cheek, you can trust your taste buds if you are an apple fancier. There are some true apple health benefits.
For one thing, you can’t beat the convenience of an apple, McManus points out. “They are an easy go-to snack.” Since apples are about 85% water by weight, they can help fill you up without a lot of calories.