Eating vegetables cuts heart disease risk

A new study in the Oct 2010 issue of PLoS One suggests that eating high amounts of fruit and vegetables, raw or processed, helps protect against coronary heart disease.

Coronary heart disease (CHD) is a health condition in which the small blood vessels are narrowed, a condition that can restrict the supplying of blood and oxygen to the heart.

The study showed people who ate more than 475 grams or slightly more than one pound of total fruit and vegetables were 36 percent less likely to be diagnosed with coronary heart disease compared to those who had less than 241 grams per day.

Prospective cohort studies have already found an inverse association between high fruit and vegetable consumption and coronary heart disease or CHD, according to the background information in the study report.

The current study led by Qude Griep L.M. and colleagues from Wageningen University in The Netherlands was intended to examine the effect of the processing condition for fruit and vegetables on the heart risk.

The researchers followed 20,069 men and women aged 20 to 65, who were free of heart disease, when enrolled in a prospective population-based cohort study between 1993 and 1997 for their health and dietary habits. 

During a 10-year follow-up, 245 incident cases of coronary heart disease were identified of which, 211 non-fatal acute myocardial infarction and 34 fatal CHD events.

Those who had highest amounts of total fruit and vegetables were at a 34 percent reduced risk of coronary heart disease compared to those who had lowest intakes.

Compared with those who consumed less than 92 grams of raw fruit and vegetables, those who had more than 262 grams per day were 30 percent less likely to suffer coronary heart disease.

In the case of processed fruit and vegetables, those who consumed 234 grams per day were 21 percent less likely to have coronary heart disease, compared to those eating less than 113 grams per day.

The researchers concluded "Higher consumption of fruit and vegetables, whether consumed raw or processed, may protect against CHD incidence."

Another study published on Nov 22, 2010 online in Archives of Internal Medicine suggests eating alpha-carotene rich vegetables and fruit may help prevent premature death.

Alpha-carotene is found in canned pumpkin, canned carrot juice, cooked carrot, raw carrots, cooked frozen mixed vegetables, baked winter squash, raw plantains, cooked frozen Collards, tomatoes, tangerines, and peas, according to Linus Pauling Institute.

By Jimmy Downs