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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 21, 2011)
Page 8 The INDEPENDENT, September 21, 2011 An apple or a pear every day may help protect against strokes Apples and pears may keep strokes away. That’s the conclusion of a Dutch study published in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association, in which re- searchers found that eating a lot of fruits and vegetables with white flesh may protect against stroke. While previous studies have linked high consumption of fruits and vegetables with lower stroke risk, the researchers’ work is the first to examine as- sociations of fruit and veg- etable color groups with stroke. The color of the edible por- tion of fruits and vegetables re- flects the presence of benefi- cial phytochemicals such as carotenoids and flavonoids. Researchers examined the link between fruits and veg- etable color group consump- tion with 10-year stroke inci- dence in a population-based study of 20,069 adults, with an average age of 41. The partici- pants were free of cardiovascu- lar diseases at the start of the study and completed a 178- item food frequency question- naire for the previous year. Fruits and vegetables were classified in four color groups: • Green, including dark leafy vegetables, cabbages and let- tuces • Orange/Yellow, which were mostly citrus fruits • Red/Purple, which were mostly red vegetables • White, of which 55 percent were apples and pears During 10 years of follow-up, 233 strokes were documented. Green, orange/yellow and red/purple fruits and vegeta- bles weren’t related to stroke. However, the risk of stroke inci- dence was 52 percent lower for people with a high intake of white fruits and vegetables compared to people with a low intake. Each 25 gram per day in- crease in white fruits and veg- etable consumption was asso- ciated with a nine percent low- er risk of stroke. An average apple is 120 grams. “To prevent stroke, it may be useful to consume consider- able amounts of white fruits and vegetables,” said Linda M. Oude Griep, M.Sc., lead author of the study and a postdoctoral fellow in human nutrition at Wa- geningen University in the Netherlands. “For example, eating one apple a day is an easy way to increase white fruits and vegetable intake. “However, other fruits and vegetable color groups may protect against other chronic diseases. Therefore, it remains September is Cholesterol Awareness Month Have you had your choles- terol levels checked? September is National Cho- lesterol Awareness Month — a good time to find out what your cholesterol numbers are, to learn about your risk for high cholesterol and what you can do to keep your levels in check. More than 98 million Ameri- cans 20 and older have high blood cholesterol — one of the most controllable risk factors for heart disease and stroke, according to the American Heart Association. High cholesterol doesn’t al- ways have symptoms. So it’s important to have your doctor check your cholesterol levels starting at least by age 20, and earlier if you have a family his- tory of heart disease. The two types of cholesterol are high-density lipoprotein, or HDL (“good” cholesterol), and low-density lipoprotein, or LDL (“bad” cholesterol). Too much bad cholesterol or not enough good cholesterol can increase your risk for heart disease or stroke. The ideal cholesterol level for most peo- ple is less than 200 mg/dL. The amount of triglycerides (or blood fats) in blood is an- other important barometer of your health; high levels are as- sociated with coronary heart disease, diabetes and fatty liv- er disease. Your doctor can measure your triglyceride lev- els with the same test for cho- lesterol. A normal triglyceride level should be less than 150 mg/dL. Your liver and other cells in your body make about 75 per- cent of blood cholesterol. LDL cholesterol is produced natu- rally by the body, but many people inherit genes from their mother, father or grandparents that cause them to make too much. The other 25 percent comes from the foods you eat. The kinds and amounts of foods you eat, weight, physical activity and exposure to tobac- co may affect your cholesterol and triglyceride levels. These factors may be controlled by: • Eating a heart-healthy di- etary pattern. • Engaging in physical activ- ity. • Controlling your blood pressure. • Maintaining a healthy weight. • Not smoking and avoiding being around others who do. The American Heart Associ- ation has information and tools about cholesterol and how to reduce your risk for heart dis- ease and stroke at www. heart.org/cholesterol. of importance to consume a lot of fruits and vegetables.” Apples and pears are high in dietary fiber and a flavonoid called quercetin. In the study, other foods in the white catego- ry were bananas, cauliflower, chicory and cucumber. Pota- toes were classified as a starch. Previous research on the preventive health benefits of fruits and vegetables focused on the food’s unique nutritional value and characteristics, such as the edible part of the plant, color, botanical family and its ability to provide antioxidants. U.S. federal dietary guide- lines include using color to as- sign nutritional value. The U.S. Preventive Health Services Taskforce recommends select- ing each day vegetables from five subgroups: dark green, red/orange, legume, starchy and other vegetables. Before the results are adopt- ed into everyday practice, the findings should be confirmed through additional research, Oude Griep said. “It may be too early for physicians to advise patients to change their dietary habits based on these initial findings,” she said. An accompanying editorial notes that the finding should be interpreted with caution be- cause food frequency ques- tionnaires may not be reliable. In addition, “the observed re- duction in stroke risk might fur- ther be due to a generally healthier lifestyle of individuals consuming a diet rich in fruits and vegetables,” writes Heike Wersching, M.D., M.Sc., of In- stitute of Epidemiology and So- cial Medicine at the University of Münster, in Germany. Study co-authors are: W.M. Monique Verschuren, Ph.D.; Daan Kromhout, M.P.H., Ph.D.; Marga C. Ocké, Ph.D.; and Jo- hanna M. Geleijnse, Ph.D. Au- thor disclosures are on the manuscript. Columbia County Domestic Abuse Mental Health Hotline 800-294-5211 503-397-6161 ----------------- or Suicide Hotline 866-397-6161 1-800- ----------------- 784-2433 or Mariolino’s 503-901-1705 Watch for our New Soups & Daily Specials 721 Madison Ave.,Vernonia • 503-429-5018 1-800-273- TALK(8255) Military Helpline 888-HLP-4-VET (888-457-4838)
