Consuming fruit with white edible portions, such as pears and apples, can reduce the risk of stroke by 52%, researchers from Wageningen Uninversity in the Netherlands wrote in the journal Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association. This is the first study to look at the link between fruit and vegetable color groups and stroke risk, the authors explained.
Apparently, you can tell whether a fruit is rich in phytochemicals by the color of its edible portion. Phytochemicals are naturally-occurring compounds that are found in plants. Generally, phytochemicals refers to plant compounds that may have an impact on human health although they are not established essential nutrients. Examples include carotenoids and flavonoids.
Linda M. Oude Griep, M.Sc. and team set out to determine whether there might be a link between vegetable and fruit color group consumption and 10-year stroke incidence. Their study involved 20,069 adults, with an average age of 41 years. None of them had any cardiovascular disease when the study began – they had all filled in a 178-item food frequency questionnaire for the previous year.
They classified the fruits and vegetables into the following color groups:
Cabbages, lettuces and other dark green leafy vegetables
Orange and yellow colors, most of which were citrus fruits
Red and purple colors, most of which were red vegetables
White colors, apples and pears made up 55% of them
The researchers documented 233 strokes during the ten-year follow up period. They found that stroke incidence was not impacted by the consumption of orange/yellow and red/purple fruits. However, a high intake of white fruits and vegetables was found to be associated with a 52% lower risk of developing stroke, compared to a low intake.
(Read the rest of this article here: Apples And Pears Can Reduce Stroke Risk By 52%.)
