Stroke is the third leading causeof death in America, affecting nearly one million people and taking the livesof 150,000 each year. Researchers publishing in the American Heart Association journalStroke have found that increasedconsumption of white fleshy vegetables and fruits such as apples and pears leadsto a dramatic decline in both incidence and death from a stroke.
This study is the first todifferentiate between different colors in fruits and vegetables and the riskfor developing a specific disease or illness. Beneficial phytochemicals such ascarotenoids and flavonoids found in the white flesh and skin of apples andpears can dramatically lower your risk of suffering the devastating physical damagecaused by a stroke.
Apples and Pears Can Cut Stroke Risk by More Than Fifty Percent
Nutrition scientists have longknown that the brightly colored skin and flesh of fruits and vegetables conferthe health benefits normally associated with eating these foods. To furtherexamine this link, researchers examined the relationship between fruit andvegetable color group consumption and contrasted with 10-year stroke incidencein a cohort of 20,069 adults, with an average age of 41. Participants weredisease free at the outset of the study and were asked to complete a 178-itemfood frequency questionnaire detailing foods consumed over the past year.
Fruit and vegetable consumptionwas broken into four distinct groups,based on pigment color: Green, including dark leafy vegetables, orange/yellow,mostly citrus fruits, red/purple, mostly red vegetables and white, of which 55percent were apples and pears. Follow up proceeded for a period of ten yearsduring which time 233 strokes were confirmed. Green, orange/yellow andred/purple varieties of fruits and vegetables were found to have no correlationto stroke incidence.
Fruits and Vegetables of All Colors Needed to Lower Disease Risk
White fleshed fruits andvegetables demonstrated a 52% lower incidence of stroke over the ten-yearperiod when those consuming the highest amounts were compared to the group withthe lowest intake. The researchers found that each 25 gram per day increase inwhite fruits and vegetable consumption was associated with a 9 percent lowerrisk of stroke (the average apple is 120 grams).
The lead study author fromWageningen University in the Netherlands concluded“To prevent stroke, it may be useful toconsume considerable amounts of white fruits and vegetables… For example,eating one apple a day is an easy way to increase white fruits and vegetableintake.” Apples and pears are high in a nutrient known as quercetin andfiber that may convey part of the stroke risk reduction. It`s critical to eat adiet packed with fruits and vegetables of all colors to take advantage of theunique disease-fighting characteristics to be uncovered for a multitude ofdifferent carotenoids and flavonoids in future research studies.
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