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| Source: NY Times |
The color of the edible portion of fruits and vegetables reflects the presence of pigmented bioactive compounds, (eg, carotenoids, anthocyanidins, and flavonoids).
The authors sought to define which vegetable color groups contribute most to stroke reduction over a 10 year period. The categories were green (broccoli, kale, spinach and lettuce), orange/yellow (oranges, carrots and peaches), red/purple (cherries, grapes, beets and tomatoes) and white (apples, pears, bananas and cauliflower).
A prospective, population-based cohort study design was employed and included 20,069 men and women age 20 to 65 years. All participants were free of cardiovascular diseases at baseline. vegetable consumption was assesed via a178-item food frequency questionnaire. Statistical modeling was utilized to adjust for age, sex, lifestyle, and dietary factors.
233 cases of stroke were documented. Medians of green, orange/yellow, red/purple, and white fruit and vegetable consumption were 62, 87, 57, and 118 g/d, respectively. Green, orange/yellow, and red/purple fruits and vegetables were not related to incident stroke. Only a higher intake of white fruits and vegetables was inversely associated with stroke (up to ). 171 grams of white produce daily (equal to one medium to large apple) had a 52 percent lower risk of stroke than those who ate less than 78 grams of white fruit a day. On average, every 25 grams of white fruit eaten daily was associated with a 9 percent lower risk for stroke.
Sure, the study has weaknesses, not the least of which is relying on self reported recall of fruit consumption(recall bias), however, the findings are interesting. The actual mechanism for stroke risk reduction is also not known.
