Testing the folk wisdom that apples prevent doctor visits

Folk Wisdom and Self-Fulfilling Prophecies

Folk Wisdom

Eating fruits and vegetables on a daily basis has always been an important aspect of good nutrition and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. But amongst the various foods in these categories, the apple stood primus inter-pares and there is even the adage that states "an apple a day keeps the doctor away." This folk wisdom can well be proven by undergoing a scientific experimentation whereby several subjects will be tested to determine how healthier they can get by eating an apple or two a day. The subjects can be divided between a control group (no apple for x number or days) and the experimental group that will be given two apples a day during the testing period. Thereafter, each subject in the experiment will be given various medical test such as blood, cholesterol, and other tests that determine their level of health. However, undergoing this kind of scientific experimentation to prove the folk wisdom will take a lot of time and resources. Thus, in the absence of a full blown scientific experimentation to prove the folk wisdom, scientific research can be done by reading various materials related to why apples are indeed health promoting fruits. For instance in an USDA-funded experiment done last year, "the study randomly assigned 160 women ages 45-65 to one of two dietary intervention groups: one received dried apples daily (75g/day for 1 year) and the other group ate dried prunes every day for a year (Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology 2011)." The result of the study proved the viability of eating apple on a daily basis and this promoted the reduction of bad cholesterol in the body. Further, the study showed that there was an "increase in HDL cholesterol or good cholesterol by about 4% (Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, 2011)" proving further that this folk wisdom is true indeed.

Self-Fulfilling Prophecies

There are times when one wakes up in the morning and the weather outside is outcast plus the forecast is rainy or snowy. A person might get up and the first word that comes to mind would be, "Oh shucks, today is going to be a really bad day." From that point forward, the actions of the person are gloomy and dreary ones starting with preparing breakfast haphazardly, getting one's self ready for school or work in an unorganized fashion, and generally having a dull, dreary, and dismal outlook with the day ahead. What ensues the rest of the day can them be categorized as negative outcomes such as missing the bus or subway for work or school, spilling coffee in the restaurant, losing something important, and even getting into arguments with colleagues or even someone not even related to the person. Consequently, as a result of the person not starting the day right and having a negative outlook the moment that person got out of bed, one bad thing or negative thing led to another because the self-prophecy that person made came true. This is not because the "self-prophecy" was indeed true but rather, the person centered not avoiding the self-prophecy.