Researchers at UC Davis School Of Medicine have determined that drinking apple juice has a beneficial effect on reducing your risk factor for heart disease. Results of the pioneering clinical study appear in the winter edition of Journal of Medicinal Food. The study shows that compounds in apple juice act (in much the same way that red wine and tea do) to slow one of the processes that lead to heart disease. These compounds act as antioxidants to delay the break down of LDL or "bad" cholesterol. When LDL oxidizes or deteriorates in the blood, plaque accumulates along the walls of the coronary artery and causes atherosclerosis.