FLORENCE, Italy—Women who consume higher levels of leafy vegetables and olive oil are less likely to face coronary heart disease (CHD), according to a study of almost 30,000 subjects (Am J Clin Nutr. 2010 Dec 22). Women who ate at least one serving of leafy vegetables per day were more than 40-percent less likely to develop heart disease compared to women who ate two or fewer portions of those vegetables each week. Similarly, women who consumed at least three tablespoons of olive oil daily were also 40-percent less likely have heart disease compared to women who ate less.
A group of Italian researchers investigated the association between consumption of fruit, vegetables, and olive oil and the incidence of CHD in 29,689 women enrolled between 1993 and 1998 in five European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohorts in northern (Turin and Varese), central (Florence) and southern (Naples and Ragusa) Italy.
Baseline dietary, body measurements and lifestyle characteristics were collected. Major events of CHD (fatal and nonfatal myocardial infarction and coronary revascularization) were identified through a review of clinical records. Analyses were stratified by center and adjusted for hypertension, smoking, education, menopause, physical activity, body measures, nonalcohol caloric intake, alcohol, total meat, vegetables in analyses for fruit, and fruit in analyses for vegetables.
During a mean follow-up of 7.85 years, 144 major CHD events were identified. A strong reduction in CHD risk among women in the highest quartile of consumption of leafy vegetables (hazard ratio: 0.54; 95% CI: 0.33, 0.90; P for trend = 0.03) and olive oil (hazard ratio: 0.56; 95% CI: 0.31, 0.99; P for trend = 0.04) was found. In contrast, no association emerged between fruit consumption and CHD risk.
