Fruit may be good for you, but don’t ditch the statins

Conclusion The study adds to evidence that fresh fruit is likely to be good for our cardiovascular health, although we can't be sure from this study that it definitely prevents deaths, heart attacks or strokes. Observational studies cannot prove that one factor causes another, even when they are as big as this study, because other unmeasured factors could be responsible for the results. In this case, a major potential confounder that the researchers failed to take into account was whether the participants were taking any medication – they only excluded people taking blood pressure tablets. The link with statins, made by the Telegraph, is unhelpful, confusing and unnecessary. While statins have been shown to reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes by about the same figure – approximately one third, depending on the study – the statin studies were randomised controlled trials, which can show a causal relationship. In addition, they were carried out in Western populations with cardiovascular disease, or at risk of cardiovascular disease. These studies had little in common with this mass observational study of diet in healthy Chinese people. However, we do know that fruit is likely to be a healthy part of a balanced diet. It's important to note that people in the study were asked about whether they ate fruit, not whether they drank fruit juice. Fruit juice often contains a lot of sugar, and misses out on the fibre found in fresh fruit. Whole fruit is likely to be he...
Source: NHS News Feed - Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Food/diet Heart/lungs Source Type: news