Increased consumption of fruit and vegetables is related to a reduced risk of coronary heart disease: meta-analysis of cohort studies

Abstract

Increased consumption of fruit and vegetables has been shown to be associated with a reduced risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) in many epidemiological studies, however, the extent of the association is uncertain. We quantitatively assessed the relation between fruit and vegetable intake and incidence of CHD by carrying out a meta-analysis of cohort studies. Studies were included if they reported relative risks (RRs) and corresponding 95% confidence interval (CI) of CHD with respect to frequency of fruit and vegetable intake. Twelve studies, consisting of 13 independent cohorts, met the inclusion criteria. There were 278,459 individuals (9143 CHD events) with a median follow-up of 11 years. Compared with individuals who had less than 3 servings/day of fruit and vegetables, the pooled RR of CHD was 0.93 (95% CI: 0.86-1.00, P=0.06) for those with 3-5 servings/day and 0.83 (0.77-0.89, P<0.0001) for those with more than 5 servings/day. Subgroup analyses showed that both fruits and vegetables had a significant protective effect on CHD. Our meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies demonstrates that increased consumption of fruit and vegetables from less than 3 to more than 5 servings/day is related to a 17% reduction in CHD risk, whereas increased intake to 3-5 servings/day is associated with a smaller and borderline significant reduction in CHD risk. These results provide strong support for the recommendations to consume more than 5 servings/day of fruit and vegetables.

Fruit and vegetable intake and risk of cardiovascular disease

“…FV intake was significantly associated with both ischaemic and haemorrhagic stroke (20) . Dauchet et al (19,21) carried out their analyses differently from He et al (18,20) , calculating the RR per portion increase in FV intake. For CHD, nine studies were included (221 080 individuals; 5007 CHD events; range of follow-up 5-19 years).…”

“…Individual prospective cohort studies published since the meta-analyses (18)(19)(20)(21) have tended to confirm the association (22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28) , although these studies do vary in terms of the dietary assessment and statistical analysis methodology used. Within these later studies there has also been some inconsistency in terms of whether it is total FV intake that is associated with reduced CHD risk, or fruit or vegetables alone (22)(23)(24) or specific classes of FV (26) .…”

Tart cherry supplementation improves working memory, hippocampal inflammation, and autophagy in aged rats

“…Epidemiologic studies have shown that high consumption of fruits and vegetables reduces the risk for common causes of death (Lock et al 2005;He et al 2006aHe et al , 2007 and improves cognitive performance in healthy elderly people (Polidori et al 2009;Nurk et al 2010). Previous research from our laboratory, and several others, suggests that the combinations of antioxidant/antiinflammatory phytochemicals found in fruits and vegetables may effectively combat some of the effects of aging [see Miller and Shukitt-Hale (2012) for a review of these studies].…”

Effects of a beverage rich in (poly)phenols on established and novel risk markers for vascular disease in medically uncomplicated overweight or obese subjects: A four week randomized placebo-controlled trial

“…Epidemiological data support consumption of fruits and vegetables in the reduction of cardiovascular risk (1)(2)(3)(4)(5) leading to supportive recommendations by the World Health Organisation (6), European Society of Cardiology (7) and jointly the American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association (8). Many components may contribute to benefits including potassium, non-starch polysaccarides, carotenoids, vitamin C and E and phenolic compounds with bioactive phytochemical constituents having a C 6 -C 3 -C 6 flavonoid structure.…”