Blueberries reduce heart attack risk

Heart health: Long-term study shows: strawberries or blueberries reduce risk of heart attack in women

15/01/2013

Strawberries or blueberries are real fitters - this is the result of a long-term study, which has now published an international research team in the journal "Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association". According to him, "a high intake of the ingredient anthocyanin can reduce the risk of heart attack in young women." However, further studies are needed here "to further examine the extent to which an increased intake of anthocyanin-rich foods would have an effect on health."

According to the study, already three servings of these fruits a week would help to reduce the risk of heart attack for women by a third. The reason for this are the ingredients from the group of the so-called anthocyanins, because they would keep the blood vessels, according to the report of the international research team.

Valuable ingredients expand the arteries
For example, strawberries and blueberries contain a variety of flavonoids, which on the one hand provide the flower color, but also have protective functions for the plant. According to the research team led by Eric Rimm of the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, the so-called anthocyanins, which represent a subgroup of flavonoids, for the health of humans particularly relevant, because they would expand the study, among other things, the arteries, the emergence of plaques in the blood vessels.

Heart disease could be prevented by eating these two types of fruit frequently: "We have shown that eating these fruits at an early age can reduce the risk of heart attack later in life," said lead author Aedin Cassidy of the University of East Anglia in Norwich.

Anthocyanins as health care?
However, the anthocyanins can do even more: According to the nutritionist at the aid infomation Harald Seitz, they could also contribute to cancer prevention by influencing the body's own protective mechanisms and strengthening the immune system. Raspberries in particular were often referred to in the media as cancerists. According to Seitz, the raspberries do not do justice to this image by the anthocyanin content, but rather by another ingredient, the so-called ellagic acid. This would appear to help "reduce the risk of lung and esophageal cancer," said Seitz - which, however, has so far only been shown in laboratory experiments.

By regular consumption of strawberries and blueberries less heart attacks
For the current long-term study, a team of international medical professionals had studied a total of 93,600 women between the ages of 25 and 42 who had completed questionnaires on their diets on a quarterly basis over a 18-year period.

In the course of the 18 years, 405 women had suffered a heart attack - but by the regular documentation of the dietary habits by the study participants, the researchers came to an interesting conclusion: It was found that in the women who at least three times a week strawberries or blueberries One third fewer cases had occurred than those who had eaten the fruits at most once a month. Here, the consumption of other fruits or vegetables could not provide compensation.

However, as the risk of a heart attack would increase according to physicians, especially with age, and is generally higher for men, there is little research to date to investigate how dieting in women at a younger age would affect their later health.

Positive effects of berries have been shown in earlier studies
However, previous studies had already shown that flavonoids in principle have a positive effect on cardiovascular health and that the plant compounds would have a greater antioxidant effect than, for example, vitamin E - and thus could more effectively halt cell aging.

Effects also possible with other berry varieties
However, according to the researchers, the long-term study outcome would only relate to how strawberries and blueberries would generally affect women's heart health when consumed frequently - other risk factors such as age, blood pressure, family history, weight, exercise, smoking and caffeine - and alcohol consumption would not have been taken into account in the study. Strawberries and blueberries had been the focus of the investigation, as these two types of berries are particularly popular in the US.

Because of the concentration on these two berry varieties, therefore, according to the physicians, it can not be ruled out that other berries or other fruits or vegetables could have a positive effect on heart health. For example, the results suggest that "other anthocyanin-rich foods such as blueberries, blackberries or aubergines could have a similar effect". As a precautionary measure, the experts recommend including berries as part of their daily diet, which should also include enough other fruits, vegetables and whole grains. (Sb)

Image: Birgit H, Pixelio.de