Half an Apple a Day Lowers CVD Risk, Study Shows

12 Apr 2016 --- According to a large new study in China, even just a small amount of fresh fruit daily was associated with decreased risk of heart attack and stroke.

While it's no secret that fresh produce is good for health, now this significant associated health benefit confirms that has been backed up again by science.

Researchers from University of Oxford and Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences tracked 500,000 adults from 10 urban and rural areas across China for seven years and found that those who ate fresh fruit on most days were at lower risk of heart attack and stroke than people who rarely ate fresh fruit.

Eating fresh fruit – mainly apples or oranges – was strongly associated with other factors like education, lower blood pressure, lower blood glucose, and not smoking. But even after accounting for that, they concluded that just 100 grams of fruit per day was associated with about one-third less cardiovascular mortality. The association was alike in all areas and for both men and women.

So often when you read about the benefits of eating something the amount required is excessive. However, just 100 grams is a manageable amount: it is the equivalent of about 3.5 ounces, which ends up being, roughly, just more than half an apple or a small orange or eight medium strawberries.

As senior author, Professor Zhengming Chen, University of Oxford, UK, says: If eating more fresh fruit really does have a protective effect, then "widespread consumption of fresh fruit in China could prevent about half a million cardiovascular deaths a year, including 200,000 before age 70, and even larger numbers of non-fatal strokes and heart attacks."