White Fruits and Veggies Linked to Fewer Strokes

We’ve been urged recently to eat dark fruits and veggies – plums, grapes, arugula, tomatoes – because they contain substances like carotenoids and flavonoids. So scientists at Wageningen University, Netherlands, set out to determine if the color of fruits and vegetables consumed were linked to the occurrence of stroke.  Their findings, published online in the journal Stroke, will surprise you.    

More than 20,000 men and women, who were free of cardiovascular disease and aged between 20 and 65, completed a validated food frequency questionnaire.  They were followed for the next 10 years to determine identify all cases of stroke among them. 

For analysis, the fruits and vegetables eaten were classified into 4 color groups: green, orange/yellow, red/purple, and white.

The average age of the participants was 41.  During the 10 years, 233 cases of stroke were documented. The overall average consumption levels of the four color groups were 62, 87, 57, and 118 grams/day. After adjustments for differences in age, gender, lifestyle and other dietary factors, it was found that there was no association between green, orange/yellow, or red/purple fruits and veggies and the risk of stroke.  However, higher intake of white fruits and veggies were associated with a lower risk of stroke.  The risk was 52% lower for the quarter of participants with the highest intake than for the quarter of them with the lowest intake of white fruits and veggies.  Another analysis showed that each 25 gram/day increase in white fruits and veggies intake was linked to a 9% lower risk of stroke.

This remarkable finding clearly requires confirming in other studies, but it will certainly lead to a flurry of research into what particular bioactive chemicals white fruits contain (and don’t contain).  But for impatient readers, here’s a rough calculation; an average apple a day will give you 120 grams of white stuff, which might lead to a 43% reduction in your stoke risk.  And an apple-a-day keeps the doctor away, doesn’t it?