Abstract
Background
Fruit and vegetables is a heterogeneous food group with different content of dietary
fiber, vitamins, minerals, carotenoids, and bioactive phytochemicals. Our objective
was to examine the relation between specific consumption of fruit and vegetable subgroups
and stroke risk in a cohort of Swedish women and men.
Methods and results
We prospectively followed 74,961 participants (34,670 women and 40,291 men) who had
completed a food frequency questionnaire in the autumn of 1997 and were free from
stroke, coronary heart disease, and cancer at baseline. Diagnoses of stroke in the
cohort during follow-up were ascertained from the Swedish Hospital Discharge Registry.
A total of 4089 stroke cases, including 3159 cerebral infarctions, 435 intracerebral
hemorrhages, 148 subarachnoid hemorrhages, and 347 unspecified strokes, were ascertained
during 10.2 years of follow-up. The multivariable relative risk (RR) of total stroke
for the highest vs. lowest category of total fruit and vegetable consumption was 0.87
(95% confidence interval [CI] 0.78–0.97; P for trend = 0.01). The association was confined to individuals without hypertension
(corresponding RR, 0.81; 95% CI, 0.71–0.93; P for trend = 0.01). Among individual fruits and vegetable subgroups, inverse associations
with total stroke were observed for apples/pears (RR, 0.89; 95% CI, 0.80–0.98; P for trend = 0.02) and green leafy vegetables (RR, 0.92; 95% CI, 0.81–1.04; P for trend = 0.03).
Conclusion
This study shows an inverse association of fruit and vegetable consumption with stroke
risk. Particularly consumption of apples and pears and green leafy vegetables was
inversely associated with stroke.
Highlights
- Fruit and vegetables is a heterogeneous food group with different content of nutrients.
- It remains unclear which fruit and vegetable subgroups that are most protective against stroke.
- We examined the relation between fruit and vegetable consumption and stroke risk.
- Particularly consumption of apples/pears and green leafy vegetables was inversely associated with stroke.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: January 07, 2013
Accepted:
December 4,
2012
Received in revised form:
November 15,
2012
Received:
August 21,
2012
Identification
Copyright
© 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
