A new study published in the New England Journal Of Medicine has shown that people who eat fresh fruit on most days of the week have a lower risk of heart attack and stroke. This study took place in China over a period of 7 years and followed 500,000 people. The study was done on people that had no previous history of cardiovascular disease or were on anti-hypertensive treatments.
Fruit is well known for containing many antioxidants and vital nutrients, while containing little sodium, fat, and calories. In the study a 100g serving of fruit per day resulted in a one-third less cardiovascular deaths than the control group. So this means that if you eat 100g/day of fresh fruit you can reduce your chance of heart attack and stroke by over 30%!
Studies strongly point to the potent health benefits of eating fresh fruits and vegetables. This article here shows that eating 7 or more servings of fruits and vegetables per day decreases death by 42%! The study showed that the more fresh vegetables a person ate lower the mortality rates. This was dose dependent as well. The more vegetables consumed the lower the rates.
When eating fruits it is best to eat them raw. Canned fruit and fruit juices do not count and it is best to avoid them altogether due to their high sugar content.
A couple of things that I should note is that fruit does contain fructose which is a sugar. So for people who are trying to lose weight you do not want to eat too many of them. Also, I tell my clients to eat fruit after training as eating it before will also interfere with the fat burning effects of the workout.
