Little things mean a lot: Extra serving of fruit/vegetables each day reduces inflammation and cardiovascular disease risk.

Speaking of omega-3 fatty acids (as we were very recently!), increased fruit and vegetable intake plus additional omega-3 fatty acid intake decreases levels of inflammation and blood cholesterol linked to cardiovascular disease (CVD) in family members of CVD patients.

The study involved family members of patients enrolled in a National Heart Lung and Blood Institute-sponsored trial. At baseline and at 1 year, the 501 people in the study underwent diet assessment via questionnaire and measurement of blood fats and biomarkers of inflammation, including high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP). Inflammation has been linked to CVD; in general, the higher the hsCRP the higher the risk and the lower the hsCRP the lower the risk of CVD.

After adjusting for age, race, gender, smoking, family history of CVD, physical activity and other factors, investigators found that a one-serving increase in daily fruit/vegetable consumption and a 1 gram per day increase in omega-3 fatty acids were each associated with significant reductions in hsCRP. Also, 1 gram per day reductions in saturated fat and trans fat were associated with reductions in total and LDL cholesterol.

Comment: The message from this study should be put in neon and hung in everyone’s kitchen: even small diet changes can have big consequences. Think about it: Here is a group of people who are family members of patients with CVD, so these study participants were themselves at increased CVD risk due to the genes and lifestyle habits they share with the CVD patient. What a great group of people to study! Let's hope they all get a copy of the results.