Eating strawberries or blueberries regularly three or more times a week can lower a woman's risk of heart attack by a third. Similarly, according to a study published in the journal Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.
The study states, berries contain high levels of flavonoids called anthocyanins. Anthocyanins can be useful to help dilate the arteries, reducing the buildup of plaque in blood vessels and other cardiovascular benefits. The researchers said the beneficial flavonoids are also found in grapes, blackberries, eggplant, and fruits and vegetables.
Although many types of food that are beneficial for heart health, the researchers only focused on examining two types of fruit, the blueberries and strawberries. Both pieces are the most widely consumed fruits in the United States than any other fruit.
"Blueberries and strawberries can be easily inserted into the woman's diet every week," says senior author Eric Rimm.
"It's a simple change in diet but have a significant impact on prevention efforts," said Rimm, who is also a professor of nutrition and epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Rimm and colleagues from the Harvard School of Public Health in the United States and the University of East Anglia, UK, conducted a prospective study among 93,600 women aged 25 to 42 years were enrolled in the Nurses' Health Study II. The women were asked to complete a survey about their diets every four years for 18 years.
During the study, there were 405 women who had a heart attack. However, in the case that women who eat blueberries and strawberries have a small risk of having a heart attack, which is 32 percent less than the women who ate fruit only once a month or less.
"We have shown that eating more fruit at an early age can reduce the risk of heart attack later in life," said Aedin Cassidy, author and Head of the Department of Nutrition at Norwich Medical School of the University of East Anglia in Norwich, England, in a statement .
The researchers said that the findings were independent of other risk factors, such as age, high blood pressure, family history of heart attack, body mass, exercise, smoking, consumption of caffeine or alcohol.
The study states, berries contain high levels of flavonoids called anthocyanins. Anthocyanins can be useful to help dilate the arteries, reducing the buildup of plaque in blood vessels and other cardiovascular benefits. The researchers said the beneficial flavonoids are also found in grapes, blackberries, eggplant, and fruits and vegetables.
Although many types of food that are beneficial for heart health, the researchers only focused on examining two types of fruit, the blueberries and strawberries. Both pieces are the most widely consumed fruits in the United States than any other fruit.
"Blueberries and strawberries can be easily inserted into the woman's diet every week," says senior author Eric Rimm.
"It's a simple change in diet but have a significant impact on prevention efforts," said Rimm, who is also a professor of nutrition and epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Rimm and colleagues from the Harvard School of Public Health in the United States and the University of East Anglia, UK, conducted a prospective study among 93,600 women aged 25 to 42 years were enrolled in the Nurses' Health Study II. The women were asked to complete a survey about their diets every four years for 18 years.
During the study, there were 405 women who had a heart attack. However, in the case that women who eat blueberries and strawberries have a small risk of having a heart attack, which is 32 percent less than the women who ate fruit only once a month or less.
"We have shown that eating more fruit at an early age can reduce the risk of heart attack later in life," said Aedin Cassidy, author and Head of the Department of Nutrition at Norwich Medical School of the University of East Anglia in Norwich, England, in a statement .
The researchers said that the findings were independent of other risk factors, such as age, high blood pressure, family history of heart attack, body mass, exercise, smoking, consumption of caffeine or alcohol.
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