An apple a day keeps the doctor away. As a result of this aphorism, the consumption of the apple symbolizes health and healthy habits. But the question is whether apple consumption is actually healthy?

In order to find out if apple consumption was related to a reduction in health care use, Matthew A. Davis, DC, MPH, PhD, of the University of Michigan School of Nursing, Ann Arbor, and his colleagues analyzed the data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2007-2008 and 2009-2010).

They surveyed 8,399 participants who completed a dietary recall questionnaire and compared daily apple eaters, who consumed at least one small apple daily or 149 g of raw apple, with non-apple eaters. Out of them, 753 (9%) were apple eaters and 7,646 (91%) were not.

Researchers found that the apple eaters had higher educational attainment, and they were more likely to be from a racial or ethnic minority and were less likely to smoke. They measured 'keeping the doctor away' as no more than one self-reported visit to a physician in previous year.

They found no statistically significant difference between apple eaters and non-apple eaters, in terms of keeping the doctor away, when sociodemographic and health-related characteristics were considered.

However, according to the results, apple eaters had marginally higher odds of avoiding prescription medications.

The authors didn't find any difference between apple eaters and non-apple eaters, when they measured the likelihood of avoiding an overnight hospital stay or a visit to a mental health professional.

The researchers wrote, "Our findings suggest that the promotion of apple consumption may have limited benefit in reducing national health care spending. In the age of evidence-based assertions, however, there may be merit to saying 'An apple a day keeps the pharmacist away".