An apple or pear a day may keep strokes away says Dutch study
10 Oct 2011
Apples and pears may keep strokes away.
That’s the conclusion of a Dutch study published in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association in which researchers found that eating a lot of fruits and vegetables with white flesh may protect against stroke.
While previous studies have linked high consumption of fruits and vegetables with lower stroke risk, the researchers’ prospective work is the first to examine associations of fruits and vegetable color groups with stroke.
The color of the edible portion of fruits and vegetables reflects the presence of beneficial phytochemicals such as carotenoids and flavonoids.
Researchers examined the link between fruits and vegetable color group consumption with 10-year stroke incidence in a population-based study of 20,069 adults, with an average age of 41. The participants were free of cardiovascular diseases at the start of the study and completed a 178-item food frequency questionnaire for the previous year.
Fruits and vegetables were classified in four color groups:
• Green, including dark leafy vegetables, cabbages and lettuces
• Orange/Yellow, which were mostly citrus fruits
• Red/Purple, which were mostly red vegetables
• White, of which 55 percent were apples and pears