Fruit, vegetables cut ischemic heart disease risk

European scientists recently found people who consume more fruit and vegetables have a lower risk of dying from ischemic heart disease.

Researchers analyzed data from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) and found people who ate 640 grams fruit and vegetables a day had a 22 percent lower risk of dying compared to those who ate less than 240 grams a day.

Participants ages 40 to 85 were recruited from across Europe from 1992 to 2000.

They were asked to answer questions about their diet at the time of entry to the study and other questions such as socio-economic status, life-style and health problems.

They were also followed-up for an average of nearly eight and a half years.

"This study involved over 300,000 people in eight different European countries, with 1,636 deaths from IHD. It shows a 4 percent reduced risk of dying from IHD for each additional portion of fruit and vegetables consumed above the lowest intake of two portions. In other words, the risk of a fatal IHD for someone eating five portions of fruit and vegetables a day would be 4 percent lower compared to someone consuming four portions a day, and so on up to eight portions or more," said Dr Francesca Crowe, first author of the study from the Cancer Epidemiology Unit at the University of Oxford.

Ischemic heart disease is a disease characterized by reduced blood supply to the heart and it is the one of leading causes of death in the USA and Europe.

Insufficient intake of fruit and vegetables is estimated to cause about 11 percent of ischemic heart disease deaths and a minimum of 400 g of fruits and vegetables per day is necessary for humans, according to the World Health Organization.

“We need to be cautious in our interpretation of the results because we are unsure whether the association between fruit and vegetable intake and risk of IHD is due to some other component of diet or lifestyle. Further studies are needed to help determine whether or not the relation between fruit and vegetables with IHD is causal.",  Dr. Crowe added.

Stephen Lau and editing by Aimee Keenan-Greene