Fresh fruit associated with lower risk of heart attack and stroke

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-04/uoo-ffa040516.php

Public Release: 6-Apr-2016
Fresh fruit associated with lower risk of heart attack and stroke
Study of 500,000 Chinese adults confirms benefits of eating fruit
University of Oxford

People who eat fresh fruit on most days are at lower risk of heart attack and stroke than people who rarely eat fresh fruit, according to new research published this week in the New England Journal of Medicine. The findings come from a 7-year study of half a million adults in China, where fresh fruit consumption is much lower than in countries like the UK or US.

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Fruit is a rich source of potassium, dietary fibre, antioxidants, and various other potentially active compounds, and contains little sodium or fat and relatively few calories. The study found that fruit consumption (which was mainly apples or oranges) was strongly associated with many other factors, such as education, lower blood pressure, lower blood glucose, and not smoking. But, after allowing for what was known of these and other factors, a 100g portion of fruit per day was associated with about one-third less cardiovascular mortality and the association was similar across different study areas and in both men and women.

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