Work

Whole fruit intake and 10-year ASCVD risk: mediation analysis in NHANES

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Background Higher fruit intake is associated with better cardiovascular health, but mechanisms remain unclear and may differ for whole fruit versus fruit juice. We evaluated the association between usual whole-fruit intake and predicted 10-year ASCVD risk and explored potential dietary and biochemical mediators. Methods We analyzed 12,771 adults aged ≥40 years from NHANES 2007–2018 without prior cardiovascular disease. Usual whole-fruit intake (excluding juice) was estimated using the NCI multivariate method. The outcome was logit-transformed 10-year ASCVD risk based on the Pooled Cohort Equations. A high-dimensional mediation framework was applied to identify a latent mediator from multiple dietary and biomarker variables using machine learning (ridge regression, support vector regression, gradient boosting, and deep learning). Effects were estimated in a test set with bootstrapping and multiple imputations. Results Fruit consumers differed from non-consumers in socio-demographic and lifestyle characteristics, including lower smoking prevalence and obesity. Higher whole-fruit intake was associated with lower ASCVD risk. An increase of 80 g/day (one portion) corresponded to a total effect of − 0.037 (95% CI: −0.059, −0.015; p = 0.001), with consistent direct effects across models (−0.033 to − 0.037; p ≤ 0.002). Indirect effects were small and model-dependent; only gradient boosting detected a significant mediated effect (−0.003; p = 0.019), accounting for 8% of the total effect. Key contributors included eGFR, total energy intake, sodium, cured meat, and legumes/soy. Conclusions Higher whole-fruit intake was associated with lower predicted ASCVD risk, largely independent of the evaluated mediators. Findings suggest that whole-fruit intake reflects broader dietary and metabolic patterns rather than a single causal pathway. Key messages • Higher whole-fruit intake is associated with lower predicted 10-year cardiovascular risk in US adults, supporting current dietary recommendations. • The association is only weakly mediated, suggesting fruit intake reflects broader healthy dietary and metabolic patterns rather than a single pathway.

Source: European Journal of Public Health

DOI: 10.1093/eurpub/ckag169.1335