Here’s the headline from the AHA press release: Vegetables, fruits decrease heart disease risk, all cause mortality, and improve mental function in seniors.
Disclaimer: OK, for this story I should note I have been a vegetarian for more than 25 years. (I eat eggs and dairy products, no meat or fish.) It’s not a conflict of interest because I don’t proselytize; many people who have known me for some time don’t know about my food preferences. So, it really doesn’t impact my reporting, but journalistic integrity says I should mention it.
Here are the study results in brief:
Researchers analyzed data from the largest national study of community-dwelling adults aged 70 years or older at the time they joined the study (1994-1996). Detailed assessment of participants dietary habits were analyzed as was global mental function.
All of this was done prospectively to examine risk of mortality in the national Longitudinal Study of Aging, involving 4,879 people. Participants were followed for an average of 7 years. The important finding: these older people did not have to consume truckloads of produce to see a benefit.
• People who ate 3 or more servings of vegetables per day had a 30% lower risk of death from heart disease, and a 15% lower risk of death due to any cause than those with less than 3 servings of vegetables per day. The difference was highly significant (p<0.001).
• Increased servings of vegetables and fruits meant a significantly lower risk of cognitive impairment. (In other words, less risk of memory loss, deteriorating visual processing, etc.)
• Fruit intake influenced risk of dying, too, but this affect was not as strong after adjusting for vegetable intake. So, at least for older individuals, it’s really the vegetables that made a big difference.
This time my comment is simply: No comment.
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