Eating lots of antioxidant-rich fruit and vegetables does appear to cut the chance of having a heart attack, but popping vitamin pills in the hope of aping a healthy diet does not, according to research.
Swedish researchers estimate that eating a diet high in antioxidants -mainly derived from fruit and veg – could cut the chance of a heart attack by a quarter.
The results contrast with studies that suggest taking antioxidant supplements, such as vitamin A, C and E pills, has no effect.
They believe that different antioxidant compounds could work together to protect the body in a much more powerful way than taking single large doses can achieve.
Specifically, the researchers found that older women ate seven fruit and vegetable portions a day, were between 20 and 29 per cent less likely to have a heart attack over a decade, than those who ate just 2.4.
The Department of Health recommends everyone should eat at least five servings of fruit and vegetables a day.
Antioxidants are naturally occurring substances which mop up molecules called reactive oxygen species (ROS), better known as ‘free radicals’.
These prompt inflammation, can damage cells, and have been implicated for triggering cancer and heart disease.
The researchers assessed antioxidant intake by looking at the diets of 30,000 Swedish women aged 49 to 83 at the start of the study.
Those with the highest antioxidant intake were 20 per cent less likely to have suffered a heart attack than those with the lowest intake, after statistically adjusting for a host of factors like differences in age, weight, and whether they smoked or exercised.
Women who ate a lot of fruit and vegetables also tended to eat less saturated fat. When the researchers adjusted for intake of fats, the difference in heart attack rates rose to 29 per cent. The study did not look at overall mortality.
Dr Alicja Wolk from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, who was the lead researcher, said their research contrasted with tests of single antioxidant supplements, which have largely failed to find evidence that they cut heart attacks or mortality rates.
Pamela Hannley, managing editor of the American Journal of Medicine, said: “Although weight-loss diets abound, the few which emphasize increasing intake of fruits and vegetables actually may be on the right track.”
However, not all ascribe to the theory that antioxidants are universally good for health. Two years ago cardiologists at King’s College London published results that some free radicals could actually help protect against heart disease.
-telegraph.co.uk
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