Eating Fruits daily can Help Lower Heart Disease Risk by 40 Percent

Eating fruits everyday can reduce cardiovascular disease risk (CVD) by up to 40 percent, a new study shows.

For the study, the researchers used data from 451,681 participants with no history of CVD from the China Kadoorie Biobank. The team then categorized people based on their fruit consumption levels.

"CVD, including ischaemic heart disease (IHD) and stroke, is the leading cause of death worldwide. Improving diet and lifestyle is critical for CVD risk reduction in the general population but the large majority of this evidence has come from western countries and hardly any from China," said Dr Huaidong Du from Oxford, UK, according to a news release.

Around 19,300 cases of IHD and 19,689 strokes were reported during the seven-year study period. The researchers found that people who ate fruits on a regular basis had 25-40 percent lower risk of developing a heart disease or stroke.

The researchers also found that fruit consumption was linked with lower blood pressure levels.

"Our data clearly shows that eating fresh fruit can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, including ischaemic heart disease and stroke (particularly haemorrhagic stroke). And not only that, the more fruit you eat the more your CVD risk goes down. It does suggest that eating more fruit is beneficial compared to less or no fruit."

In a separate study conducted using data from 60,000 people, the researchers found that eating fruits lowered early death risk by 32 percent.

The study was presented at ESC Congress.

Health experts recommend that people eat at least five servings of fruits and vegetables daily. Several studies have shown the link between healthy eating habits and lower disease risk. University College London scientists and colleagues had recently found that eating seven daily portions of fruits and veggies is associated with a 42 percent lower risk of premature death.