Nutrients in Produce Linked to Better Health in Seniors

Source: Tufts University
October 11, 2002 (Reviewed: October 19, 2004)

'Comparing apples to oranges' is commonly used to show that two things are very different. But actually apples and oranges do have one thing in common. They're both good sources of flavonoids - a group of nutrients found in all kinds of fruits and vegetables, as well as in tea and red wine. Scientists think that these nutrients act as antioxidants in the body, helping to protect cells from oxygen-related damage that, over time, increases the risk of heart disease, cancer, cataracts, and other chronic diseases. A study recently published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition adds to what we know about the disease-fighting potential of flavonoids.

A look at diet and health

Finnish researchers accessed diet information that had been collected in the late 1960s and early 1970s on more than 10,000 people. Using current food composition tables, they calculated the flavonoid content of the foods that the people were eating at that time. They then looked for a relationship between flavonoid intake and development of chronic diseases in the decades that followed.

They found that people who ate the most of several common flavonoids were about 20% less likely than others in the study to suffer from heart disease or stroke and about 35% less likely to develop asthma. In men, high flavonoid intake was also linked to a reduced risk of lung and prostate cancers.

Just a snapshot, not the whole picture

One of the strengths of this study is that it followed people for a long period of time, giving the researchers a fairly complete profile of the participants' health. But on the other hand, they were basing their assessments on very old diet information. Most of the flavonoids measured came from just 7 types of foods -- apples, oranges, white cabbage, onions, grapefruit, berries, and juices. (Because the original diet records didn't include information on tea and wine intake, they didn't include these flavonoid-rich beverages in their tally.) The people may have been eating a greater variety of foods in their later years, but this would not have been picked up in this analysis.

Healthy advice

The study does, though, highlight an important point - when it comes to long-term health, there is no short-term solution. Chronic diseases result from multiple factors. Some, like age and genetics, we can't control. But diet is one of the 'modifiable factors' that we can use to increase the chances that we'll stay healthier as we get older.

Diet variety is a key part of this plan. Don't limit yourself to the same fruits and vegetables, as many of the people in this study apparently did. Expand the flavonoids - and other key nutrients - in your diet by choosing a wide variety of produce.

Source

• Flavonoid intake and risk of chronic diseases. P. Knekt, J. Kumpulainen, R. Järvinen,  et al., Amer J Clin Nutr, 2002, vol. 76, pp. 560--568

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