Eating eight portions of fruit or vegetables a day can cut the risk of dying from heart disease by a fifth – compared with eating fewer than three portions, researchers say today.
Dr Francesca Crowe of Oxford University, UK, and colleagues analysed figures from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) Heart study.
Based on more than 300,000 people in eight European countries, with 1,636 deaths from ischaemic heart disease – the most common form of heart disease – they found a reduction in risk of 22 per cent.
In the study, a portion weighed 80 grams, equal to a small banana, a medium apple, or a small carrot.
Results are published online today in the European Heart Journal.
Dr Crowe said: "This study shows a four per cent reduced risk of dying from ischaemic heart disease for each additional portion of fruit and vegetables consumed above the lowest intake of two portions.
"In other words, the risk of a fatal ischaemic heart disease for someone eating five portions of fruit and vegetables a day would be four per cent lower compared to someone consuming four portions a day, and so on up to eight portions or more."
People who eat more fruit and vegetables also tend to have other healthy habits that may reduce the risk of heart disease, but the analysis tried to take this into account.
Victoria Taylor of the British Heart Foundation commented: "The take home message is still that eating fruit and vegetables is healthy for your heart.
"We need to remember to make five portions our minimum as the more fruit and vegetables people ate the lower their risk of dying from heart disease became."
Crowe, F. L. et al. Fruit and vegetable intake and mortality from ischaemic heart disease: results from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC)-Heart study. European Heart Journal, published online January 19, 2011.
* Cholesterol-lowering statin drugs may not benefit people with no history of heart disease, according to an expert review published today.
The drugs have been advocated as beneficial for preventing heart problems, but low cholesterol has been linked to death from other causes, so Dr Fiona Taylor and her team at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK, investigated further.
They carried out a Cochrane systematic review of 14 trials involving 34,272 patients. Statins appeared to reduce the risk of dying from nine to eight per 1,000 people treated with statins each year. The drugs reduced fatal and non-fatal heart conditions, including heart attack, stroke and the need for revascularisation surgery.
But the experts believe that many of the studies were potentially biased, and patients’ individual risk profiles should be carefully considered before prescribing statins.
Dr Taylor said: "This review highlights important shortcomings in our knowledge about the effects of statins in people who have no previous history of cardiovascular disease.
"We know that industry-sponsored trials are more likely to report favourable results for drugs versus placebos, so we have to be cautious about interpreting these results," she added. "The numbers eligible for treatment with statins are potentially great so there might be motivations, for instance, to stop trials earlier if interim results support their use.
"The decision to prescribe statins in this group [those with no previous history of cardiovascular disease] should not be taken lightly," she concluded.
Amy Thompson, of the British Heart Foundation, backed the findings, calling for patients to be advised to adopt healthy lifestyles.
She said: "It is still unclear whether statins provide any real benefits for people without heart and circulatory disease and who are at low risk of developing it. There is little to suggest that statins should be prescribed routinely for these people.
"However, it is good practice for health professionals to consider each person individually."
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