众所周知，多吃水果和蔬菜对人的身体健康有益，一项最新的研究发现，多吃蔬菜水果还能降低心脏病的死亡风险。

研究人员分析了参与欧洲前瞻性癌症与营养调查(European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition study)，来自8个欧洲国家年龄为40-85岁的30多万人健康数据，平均随访时间为8.5年。

该研究结果发表在1月18日的European Heart Journal（欧洲心脏病学杂志）上。

研究人员发现，随访对象中，有1636人死于缺血性心脏病。缺血性心脏病是欧洲国家最常见的心脏病，它导致血脏缺血，引起心绞痛，胸痛和心肌梗死。

根据这项研究，每天至少吃8份水果蔬菜的人比每天吃不到3份的人死于缺血性心脏病的风险降低22%。这里的“一份”相当于80克，类似于一个小香蕉，一个中等大的苹果或者是一个小胡萝卜。“换句话说，在保证最低两份水果蔬菜的基础上，每增加一份，死于缺血性心脏病的风险就下降4%”，该研究的第一作者，英国牛津大学的 Francesca Crowe 说。

但作者同时也指出，虽然研究结果发现多吃蔬菜水果能降低缺血性心脏病的死亡风险，但并不能确定两者之间的关联是否是因为饮食或生活方式中的其他原因导致的。

论文链接：European Heart Journal DOI: 10.1093/eurheartj/ehq465

Fruit and vegetable intake and mortality from ischaemic heart disease: results from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC)-Heart study

Aims A higher intake of fruits and vegetables has been associated with a lower risk of ischaemic heart disease (IHD), but there is some uncertainty about the interpretation of this association. The objective was to assess the relation between fruit and vegetable intake and risk of mortality from IHD in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC)-Heart study.

Methods and results After an average of 8.4 years of follow-up, there were 1636 deaths from IHD among 313 074 men and women without previous myocardial infarction or stroke from eight European countries. Participants consuming at least eight portions (80 g each) of fruits and vegetables a day had a 22% lower risk of fatal IHD [relative risk (RR) = 0.78, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.65–0.95] compared with those consuming fewer than three portions a day. After calibration of fruit and vegetable intake to account for differences in dietary assessment between the participating centres, a one portion (80 g) increment in fruit and vegetable intake was associated with a 4% lower risk of fatal IHD (RR = 0.96, 95% CI: 0.92–1.00, P for trend = 0.033).

Conclusion Results from this large observational study suggest that a higher intake of fruits and vegetables is associated with a reduced risk of IHD mortality. Whether this association is causal and, if so, the biological mechanism(s) by which fruits and vegetables operate to lower IHD risks remains unclear.