It’s more than an apple a day: an appropriately processed, plant-centered dietary pattern may be good for your health

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Abstract
Despite widespread acceptance that the consumption of fruit and vegetables is good for health (1), formal research on the intake of these foods in relation to cardiovascular disease is surprisingly sparse (2). In this issue of the Journal, Liu et al (3) present evidence concerning risk of incident atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease among older women according to fruit and vegetable intake. Observed risk was ≈30% lower in the women who ate 5–10 servings of fruit and vegetables per day than in those who ate 2.5 servings/d. Higher fruit and vegetable intake went hand in hand with other presumably healthful lifestyle habits. After adjustment for these and other cardiovascular disease risk factors, the risk reduction was attenuated to ≈15%, still inverse but no longer statistically significant. The risk reduction was stronger and statistically significant in women without diabetes, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, and other high-risk conditions.