The Link Between Fruit, Vegetables and Health - Cardiovascular Disease (CVD)

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) includes Myocardial Infarction ("Heart Attack"), stroke, coronary angioplasty, artery bypass, and fatalities associated with these events.

Data relating to CVD is presented in references 2 and 5. Reference 2 was described on previous pages. Reference 5 includes 39,876 female health professionals in the Women's Health Study, with a total of 195,647 person-years followup.

Reference 2 determined that a vegetable intake three or more times a day results in a RR of 0.73 for CVD mortality, with a range of 0.58 - 0.92 at the 95% confidence level. In addition, there is also a reduction in all-cause mortality, with a risk reduction of 0.85 (0.72 - 1.00 at the 95% confidence level).

Reference 5 finds a reduction factor of 0.85 in CVD (0.61 - 1.17 at the 95% confidence level) when comparing the highest quintile of fruit and vegetable intake to the lowest. When participants who had a history of diabetes, hypertension or high cholesterol at the start were excluded, the results were 0.45 (0.22 - 0.91 at the 95% confidence level).

We conclude that the risk for CVD is reduced by fruit and vegetable consumption (500 - 700 grams or 18 -25 oz, or 9-10 "servings" a day). Reference 2 (that has smaller error in its determination) indicates that the risk is reduced by 27%. The results from reference 5 pertaining to the exclusion of high-risk participants may indicate that eating fruit and vegetables is even more beneficial to healthy people, compared to people who already have significant risk factors. However, we caution that such details inferred from cohort studies may be suspect due to unknown confounding factors. (A confounding factor is a variable in the experiment that can cause or prevent the outcome of interest).