Apple a day? Something to watch

Now, from the Netherlands, here's something that you can sink your teeth into. It's a study showing that white-fleshed fruits and vegetables reduce stroke risk:

A new study shows an association between a high intake of fruits and vegetables with a white flesh—mainly apples and pears in this research—and reduced risk of stroke on the order of 50%

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In this large, population-based study, each 25 g/day increase in consumption of white fruits and vegetables was associated with a 9% decrease in stroke risk.

However, lead author Linda M Oude Griep (Wageningen University, the Netherlands) cautioned that as this is the first study to look at color groups of fruits and vegetables in relation to stroke, no definite conclusions can be made.

"There are more studies needed to confirm these findings," Griep told heartwire. "It's also the case that maybe other color groups of fruits and vegetables may protect against other chronic diseases, so it remains of importance that patients eat a variety of fruits and vegetables."

Their findings were published online yesterday and will appear in the November issue of Stroke.

It is, as stated, too early to give definite conclusions. However, I must say that I'm glad I like apples!