According to research, published in JAMA Internal Medicine (April 1st edition –done for fun and “is very tongue in cheek”) an apple a day does not “keep the doctor away.”

Here’s an excerpt from USA Today summary:

At first glance, data on 8,728 U.S. adults looked like it might uphold the saying: The 9% who ate at least one small apple daily were less likely to visit doctors several times a year….They adjusted their statistics to account for ways other than apple-eating that “apple eaters might be very different from everyone else,” Davis says. For example, they found apple lovers were less likely to smoke, were more educated and were less likely to be white than the 91% of the population eating less than an apple a day.

After adjusting for those factors, they found daily apple-eaters were just as likely as otherwise similar individuals to go to doctors…Other studies have found numerous possible health benefits associated with apple consumption, including weight loss, reduced cancer risk and improved cardiovascular health.