The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 2 plus 5 plus 1 plus 3 letter word AN APPLE A DAY
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
A
N
A
P
P
L
E
A
D
A
Y
More clues leading to the result AN APPLE A DAY
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "proverbially keeps one healthy" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case proverbially keeps one healthy = an apple a day.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.