Work

Dietary fruits and vegetables and risk of cardiovascular diseases in elderly Chinese

Year: 2023

Type: article

Abstract: Background Evidence regarding the potential effect of fruit and vegetable consumption on cardiovascular diseases (CVD) was limited and inconsistent among Asian people. Purpose We aimed to investigate the association between fruit and vegetable consumption and risk of CVD, including total CVD, hypertension, heart disease and stroke. Methods We followed 9,740 Chinese elderly population (≥65 years, mean baseline age: 88 years) from the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS) during a follow-up of 10 years (2008-2018). Dietary data were collected using a validated food frequency questionnaire. We examined the associations of fruit and vegetable consumption with risk of CVD using Cox proportional hazard models. Results During 37,366 person-years of follow-up, a total of 3,738 CVD cases were recorded. After adjusting for demographics, dietary, lifestyle, and economical social factors, higher intakes of total fruits and vegetables were associated with lower risk of CVD (comparing with extreme quintiles, hazard ratio (HR) and 95%CI: 0.84 (0.74, 0.95)). The inverse association was mainly driven by vegetable consumption (0.86 (0.77, 0.95)). Furthermore, the inverse association was stronger for risk of hypertension (0.84(0.72, 0.98)). These associations were consistent across age, sex, BMI, residence, exercise status, smoking, drinking and health status. Conclusion This study suggests that higher intakes of total fruits and vegetables are associated with lower risk of CVD among elderly Chinese people, supporting the current recommendations of increasing fruit and vegetable consumption as part of healthy diet for the prevention of CVD.

Source: European Heart Journal

DOI: 10.1093/eurheartj/ehad655.2385