A new large-scale study suggests that a fruit-heavy diet may cut the risk of developing abdominal aortic aneurysm.
Abdominal aortic aneurysm, also known as AAA, is an abnormal enlargement of the aorta which when ruptured may lead to fatal internal bleeding. In worst cases, a surgery needs to performed on ruptured aneurysm.
Dr. Otto Stackelberg, lead author of the study and a Ph.D. student in the nutritional epidemiology unit of the Institute of Environmental Medicine at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, and his colleagues studied the data of over 80,000 people with ages 46 to 84. During the start of the study, 1,100 of the participants were pre-diagnosed with abdominal aortic aneurysm and 222 with ruptured aneurysms.
The participants were asked to divided into groups based on the fruit (excluding juice) serving consumption per day-- zero to one serving, two servings, and over two servings. They researchers monitored their aneurysm progress for 13 years.
After the follow-up period, the researchers found out that those who had more than two servings of fruit a day had a 25 percent lower risk of developing aneurysm and and 43 percent decreased risk of rupture than those who had less than one serving a day.
Those who had two servings of fruit a day had a 31 percent lower risk of the condition and a 39 percent lower chance of rupture than those who didn't eat any fruit.
The researchers believe that the reduced risk is due to the antioxidants present in fruits which may have aided in reducing inflammation. They also tested vegetables and saw no improvement even if it is also rich in antioxidants. They assumed that there may be a type of antioxidant that is only present in fruits.
However, the researchers do not advise people to skip eating vegetables and focus on fruits. The nutrients in vegetables are also needed by our body and may help decrease the risk to other diseases such as heart diseases, diabetes, high blood pressure, and some types of cancer.
The study was published in the journal Circulation.
