Fruit and vegetable intake and the risk for developing coronary heart disease.

​High dietary ingestion of fruits and vegetables may be beneficial in the prevention of coronary heart disease.

The aim of this study was to determine whether frequent consumption of fruits and vegetables is associated with decreased or increased risk of coronary heart disease. A team of Serbian researchers looked at the dietary data of 580 subjects and estimated the coronary heart disease odds ratios of all the participants in this study.

The research team observed that individuals who belong to the highest category of fruit and vegetable consumption were less likely to develop coronary heart disease than persons who belong to the lowest category of fruit and vegetable intake. According to this study, a 60% decrease in coronary heart disease risk was associated with daily intake of 5 or more portions of fruits and habitual consumers of 3 or more portions of vegetables per day experienced a 70% reduction in coronary heart disease risk. The findings of this study reveal that regular consumption of generous portions of fruits and vegetables may help cut down the rate of occurrence of coronary heart disease in the general population.