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Health & Fitness | February 26, 2009

Best-of-the-best heart healthy foods: X is for eXtra vegetables

Debora Yost's photo
NY Nutrition Examiner

 
So, which provides more protection against heart disease – fruits or vegetables?  The answer: vegetables. 
 
Several studies have found that serving for serving, vegetables rule when it comes to preventing a heart attack.
 
This point was demonstrated recently by researchers who analyzed the diets of 680 people who were brought to a European hospital with suspicious symptoms of a heart attack.  Half had had a heart attack but the other half didn’t.
 
No surprise -- it turned out that those who didn’t have a heart attack were healthier eaters than those who were admitted and treated. But the researchers took their scientific data further and came up with estimated odds for developing heart disease based on intake of fruits and vegetables in both groups.
 
They found that those who ate five servings of fruit a day had a 60 percent lower risk of heart disease than those who ate just one serving a day. However, those who ate three servings of vegetables had a 70 percent lower risk of heart disease than those who didn’t eat any vegetables on a regular basis.
  
In another study closer to home,  researchers at Harvard School of Public Health found similar, but more specific, results. Their analysis included 84,251 women whose dietary habits were followed for 14 years and 42,148 men whose dietary habits were followed for 8 years.
 
They found that every extra serving of fruit or vegetables a person ate contributed  an average 4 percent reduction in risk of heart disease.  The biggest contributors? Green leafy vegetables, followed by vitamin-C rich fruits and vegetables. 
 
Whose Flunking?
 
Americans are way below the minimum of five servings of fruits and vegetables that are important to heart health. Only 22.1 percent of men and 32.2 percent of women consume three or more servings a day, according to American Heart Association statistics.
 
So, get with the program and aim to double your intake of fruits and vegetables. It’s not that hard – and not as much food as you may think.  People often confuse serving size with portion size, but they are not the same thing -- especially when you consider the portions dished out at many New York restaurants.
 
Here’s the rule of thumb: One serving is equal to a half cup of cooked vegetables, a cup of salad greens, a small apple or a half of a grapefruit.
 
You’ll find plenty of ways to add more fruit and vegetables to your life in the Heart Healthy Cookbook: Print & Save Recipes that are being offered in this space during February as part of American Heart Month.
 

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NY Nutrition Examiner

Debora Yost, former editor-in-chief of Prevention Magazine Health Books, has authored, edited or contributed to more than 100 health books. Her...

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