The pro-metabolic effects of apple polyphenols
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These last weeks I had a rather positive experience with apple polyphenols, mostly in terms of hair health (https://raypeatforum.com/community/threads/procyanidin-b-2-extracted-from-apples-grows-hair-in-clinical-trials-of-male-pattern-baldness.40036/), but also general metabolic health.
Unfortunately, you cannot get the same polyphenols from Citrus fruits that you can get from apples. For example procyanidins (the major apple polyphenol) are only obtainable from apple and cocoa in high amounts (http://phenol-explorer.eu/contents/polyphenol/151).
They really have a wide range of pro-metabolic effects: Increase in UCP1, Akkermansia, Th and dopamine, anti-viral, anti-bacterial,lowering TLR4,NLRP3, etc...
- Increase UCP1 and Akkermansia
- Apple Polyphenols Extracts Ameliorate High Carbohydrate Diet-Induced Body Weight Gain by Regulating the Gut Microbiota and Appetite - PubMed
- Reduces hepatic steatosis and increases Akkermansia
- Increases short chain fatty acids and tight junction proteins in the gut and decreases TLR4 and NF-kB expression
- Apple peel polyphenol alleviates antibiotic-induced intestinal dysbiosis by modulating tight junction proteins, the TLR4/NF-κB pathway and intestinal flora - PubMed
- Lowers neuroinflammation, TLR4 and NLRP3 ( which is also implicated in hair loss)
- Apple Polyphenol Extract Ameliorates Atherosclerosis and Associated Cognitive Impairment through Alleviating Neuroinflammation by Weakening TLR4 Signaling and NLRP3 Inflammasome in High-Fat/Cholesterol Diet-Fed LDLR-/- Male Mice - PubMed
- Increase tyrosine hydroxilase and thus dopamine synthesis and UCP1, reduce fat acumulation
- Apple polyphenols induce browning of white adipose tissue - PubMed
6, Increases oxygen consumption, heat production and AMPK
- Dietary apple polyphenols promote fat browning in high-fat diet-induced obese mice through activation of adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase α - PubMed
- Increase hepatic FXR level,and reduce hepatic steatosis
- Apple Polyphenol Extract Improves High-Fat Diet-Induced Hepatic Steatosis by Regulating Bile Acid Synthesis and Gut Microbiota in C57BL/6 Male Mice - PubMed
- Increase the enzyme CYP7A1 ,which coverts cholesterol into bile acids and is the rate limiting enzyme in this reaction.
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Dose-dependent hypocholesterolemic actions of dietary apple polyphenol in rats fed cholesterol - PubMed
- Anti-bacterial effect ,in this case, against C. difficile, plus a strong anti-inflammatory effect.
- Increases autophagy, cytochrome c and several mitochondrial respiratory chain complexes
"...mitophagy-related protein levels were significantly increased. The enzymatic activities of mitochondrial respiratory chain complexes II, III and IV were significantly higher in the AP intake group..."
- Dietary apple polyphenols enhance mitochondrial turnover and respiratory chain enzymes - PubMed
Dare to think.
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Never peel your apples!
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@Kvothe Interestig.
To peel or not to peel?I peeled my apple for years because I read a study that showed lower pesticide content in the flesh than the peal but similar vitamin C and polyphenol content (I think they just looked at a single one).
But the peel contains an interesting molecule called ursolic acid which has anti-serotonin effects and also contains the most pectin, which helps with bile excretion.
So I stopped peeling for now.Dare to think.
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@Mauritio Yeah, it probably depends on the variety. I grew up with lots of old apple trees on our property, so pesticides were never an issue. No one in our family ever peeled an apple, and when I first saw other kids do it in school I though there was something deeply wrong with them.
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@Mauritio Just soak for 10-15 minutes in Bicarbonate of Soda then rinse with water and dry.......
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Apples concentrate these compounds in the peel, but they have enough flesh mass to make up for it.
Apples and Apple By-Products: Antioxidant Properties and Food Applications
"About 13% of the weight of the fresh apple fruit [about 150 g] is constituted by the peels, which are obtained from fresh-cut fruit and apple pie and sauce manufacturing [16]."
Mass:
- Peel 1:7 flesh
Polyphenols (fatty):
- Peel 2:1 flesh
Polyphenols (aqueous):
- Peel 4:1 flesh
But the profile of polyphenols in the peel must be more germicidal.
If you're after a few compounds in specific and enjoy apples prepared in different ways, cooking might degrade pesticides to a greater extent than the toxins that you want to keep. As an example, your bearic acid has high thermal stability, which can be compared to that of prevalent pesticides in apples (although ingredients may become unstable in the presence of others). Cooking also solubilizes their pectin.
Pesticide Use and Degradation Strategies: Food Safety, Challenges and Perspectives
Current strategies for the reduction of pesticide residues in food products -
@Amazoniac
Thanks! I think Ill go for organic + eating peel and hope for the best. -
After 1 month on apple polyphenols I notice:
- less hair loss
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less water retention in face and body
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muscles look fuller (pro-liver effect)
All in all the effect is not super strong, but noticable so I will continue.
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@Mauritio thanks for continuing to update us. I myself have increased my apple consumption, but never pulled the trigger on an apple polyphenol supplement. Have your results come from primarily eating apples or are you supplementing the polyphenols as well?
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@evan-hinkle
My results come from the supplement. Eating apples is not as effective for some reason.Dare to think.
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@Mauritio what is the supplement you are using?
"You're changing your past every time you learn something because you become a different organism" Ray Peat
"Everything is changing thru time, whether it's a word, organism, thing. The world around it changes, and so its relationships change"Ray Peat
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@Sunniva Swasons apple polyphenols.
Great caption btw I would add that when you learn something new, you change the way you see that past, which is basically like changing the past. Very empowering quote as it puts the power back into the hands of the individual.
Dare to think.
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@Mauritio absolutely!
Ray Peat In his own words:
https://www.bioenergetic.life/clips/ae826?t=1322&c=25"The biology is changed by every experience. The brain is constantly in development and that involves what you're learning. So what you learn changes your structure and so your mind is changed and so the meaning of what you learned has changed. You're changing your past every time you learn something because you become a different organism."
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@Mauritio Thanks for bringing this thread over from RPF.
I had to stop with the apple powder I bought (Malus pumila) from Bulk Supplements, as it was causing the typical malaise I get from supplements. I'll probably use it as a topical on my scalp. I may try the Swanson apple polyphenols you're taking at some point.
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Returning to "to peel or not to peel" (that is the question), industrial distributed apples have a new fungical coating to extend their shelf life. The FDA designated it, known as Apeel, as organic and it does not have to be identified on the product. As always, let the buyer beware.
The best way to cure a dietary disease is to improve the diet.
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Interesting. I thought polyphenols were all estrogenic and DHT blockers
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Chocolate is also rich in procyanidin B-2, isn't it? I'm not sure if you'll remember this, but there was a user on RPF who claimed drinking store-bought chocolate milk did a lot to ameliorate his hair loss. I can't remember any further details, but perhaps this is another dot you've connected already?
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I've often had quite pronounced allergic reactions to certain apples, but especially if the peel is left on, despite pesticide content - in fact, I have an apple tree in my garden, and despite keeping it clean and well-cared for without the use of any pesticides, and despite taking care to clean everything adequately, I've had reactions to them too.
I found this brief clip of Peat saying that some of the more popular species of apple develop an insecticidal enzyme which can be highly allergenic, but that this might be reduced with cooking, so perhaps I'm unlucky in that I have one of those species. Does it stand to reason that the procyanidin B-2 content would vary significantly between species, and if so - perhaps if one wanted as high a procyanidin B-2 content as possible, it might be fruitful to attempt to discover which species are commonly used for extraction by the supplement manufacturers? I wasn't able to find many papers which explored this, although this one about phenol content of a few apple species might be a useful starting point.
Interviewer: "[...] what types of fruit do you recommend, and which ones do you think could hurt us instead of help us? [...]"
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Ray Peat: "[...] besides the starch problem with some fruits such as bananas, you have the allergy problem: and I think that's partly because of the industrialisation of banana-farming, use of a lot of chemicals, and just overuse of the soil stresses the plants - and you've heard of the latex allergy, probably, corresponding to the banana allergy? Both of those, the rubber tree and the banana plant are highly-industrialised, stressed crops, and I think that it's the defensive stress substances that the plants evolved to kill insects which were attacking them. Those highly-cropped species produce this insecticidal enzyme which happens to be highly allergenic to humans. Even some brands of apples have quite a high allergen content, and cooking many of the allergenic fruits makes them safer to eat. [...]"I think perhaps this isn't news to a lot of people viewing this thread, but I've included it just in case it helps someone make a connection later.
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@DavidPS said in The pro-metabolic effects of apple polyphenols:
Returning to "to peel or not to peel" (that is the question), industrial distributed apples have a new fungical coating to extend their shelf life. The FDA designated it, known as Apeel, as organic and it does not have to be identified on the product. As always, let the buyer beware.
Thanks for sharing! A new rabbithole...it's wild how complicated the decision of peeling an apple (or not) can be, indeed an existential question.
Apeel contains mono and diglycerides of (vegetable) fatty acids, which is nothing new. This is E471 in Europe, which is contained in chocolate ,meat, cream bread and more. It shouldnt be too health concerning. I think it even occurs naturally during lypolisis.
But, most E471 is made from genetically modified soy beans, that already sounds more concering. And this article (in german) says it can cause allergic reactions in some people.
Wikipedia says this:
" A French study published in 2024 concluded that a higher intake of E471 increases the risk of cancer by 15%, particularly breast cancer (24%) and prostate cancer (46%).[7]"--> coincidentally both breast and prostate cancer are highly estrogen-driven, so maybe there is an estrogenic activity here, which makes me lean more towards peeling my apples again.
If you want to look at it from a conspiratorial angle, it doesnt look good either. Bill Gates and the WEO both supported it.
Is there anyway of knowing if a company uses apeel? Maybe it's the glowing fatty layer on some apples that always seemed suspicious to me?
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E471 on health:
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Effect on CVD:
" Additionally, higher intakes of monoglycerides and diglycerides of fatty acids (E471 and E472) were associated with higher risks of all outcomes. Among these emulsifiers, lactic ester of monoglycerides and diglycerides of fatty acids (E472b) was associated with higher risks of CVD (1.06, 1.02 to 1.10, P=0.002) and cerebrovascular disease (1.11, 1.06 to 1.16, P<0.001), and citric acid ester of monoglycerides and diglycerides of fatty acids (E472c) was associated with higher risks of CVD (1.04, 1.02 to 1.07, P=0.004) and coronary heart disease (1.06, 1.03 to 1.09, P<0.001). " -
Effect on cancer:
"Higher intakes of mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids (FAs) (E471) were associated with higher risks of overall cancer (HR high vs. low category = 1.15; 95% CI [1.04, 1.27], p-trend = 0.01), breast cancer (HR = 1.24; 95% CI [1.03, 1.51], p-trend = 0.04), and prostate cancer (HR = 1.46; 95% CI [1.09, 1.97], p-trend = 0.02). In addition, associations with breast cancer risk were observed for higher intakes of total carrageenans (E407 and E407a) (HR = 1.32; 95% CI [1.09, 1.60], p-trend = 0.009) and carrageenan (E407) (HR = 1.28; 95% CI [1.06, 1.56], p-trend = 0.01). "
Only a correlation, but still worrying.
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