A cup of tea and a fruit salad, followed by a brisk jog to the wine bar

Research presented at the European Society of Cardiology 2014 ESC Congress has revealed that daily fruit consumption cuts the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) by up to 40%, while drinking tea reduces non-cardiovascular mortality by 24%. However, those who have been encouraged by recent evidence of the health benefits of wine consumption may have their mood slightly dampened by the news that wine only protects against CVD in people who exercise.

When it comes to fruit, the more the better

The findings from a seven-year follow-up study of nearly half a million people with no prior history of CVD found that the more fruit people ate, the more their risk of CVD declined. The researchers found that compared to people who never ate fruit, those who ate fruit daily cut their CVD risks by 25-40%.

The researchers also found that people who consumed fruit more often had significantly lower blood pressure (BP).

In a separate analysis, the researchers examined the association of fruit consumption with total mortality and CV mortality in more than 61,000 patients who had CVD or hypertension at baseline. They found that compared to those who never ate fruit, daily consumers of fruit cut their overall risk of death by 32%. They also reduced their risks of dying from ischaemic heart disease (IHD) by 27% and from stroke by around 40%.

The researchers concluded: “Our results show the benefit of eating fruit in the healthy general population and in patients with CVD and hypertension. Fruit consumption is an effective way to cut CVD risk and should not only be regarded as ‘might be useful’. Policies are needed to promote the availability, affordability and acceptability of fresh fruit through educational and regulatory measures.”

Tea-drinkers healthier than coffee-drinkers

Meanwhile, French researchers presented the results from their study on the effect of coffee and tea consumption on CV mortality and non-CV mortality. The study of over 130,000 people found that coffee-drinkers had a higher CV risk profile than non-drinkers, and that non-coffee-drinkers were more physically active.

Tea-drinkers had the reverse profile of coffee-drinkers, with consumers having a better CV risk profile than non-consumers. Physical activity also increased with the number of cups of tea per day, from 43% in moderate tea-drinkers to 46% in heavy drinkers.

Coffee showed a trend for increasing CV mortality in the heavy- compared to non-drinkers but the effect was not significant. Coffee significantly increased non-CV mortality but the increased risk disappeared when the effect was adjusted for smoking.

There was a trend for tea-drinking to decrease CV mortality but the effect was not quite significant after adjusting for age, gender and smoking. But tea significantly lowered the risk of non-CV death, with tea-drinking lowering the risk of non-CV death by 24%.

Researcher Professor Nicolas Danchin concluded, “I think that you could fairly honestly recommend tea-drinking rather than coffee- drinking and even rather than not drinking anything at all.”

Wine is fine, but only if you exercise

In news that might inspire wine-drinkers to walk more briskly to the bottle shop, results from the In Vino Veritas (IVV) study, presented by Professor Milos Taborsky from the Czech Republic, found that wine only protects against CVD in people who exercise.

The IVV study is the first long-term, prospective randomised trial comparing the effect of red and white wine on markers of atherosclerosis. The 146 participants were randomised to one year of moderate consumption of red wine (Pinot Noir) or white wine (Chardonnay-Pinot) from the same year and wine region of the Czech Republic.

Participants kept a logbook on their consumption of wine and other alcoholic beverages, medication use, and amount and type of exercise. They were also required to return the corks from the wine bottles to confirm that they had consumed the wine rather than sold it.

The researchers found that there was no difference between HDL (‘good’) cholesterol levels at the beginning of the study compared to one year in either the red or white wine groups. LDL cholesterol was lower in both groups at one year while total cholesterol was lower only in the red wine group.

Professor Taborsky said: “A rise in HDL cholesterol is the main indication of a protective effect against CVD; therefore, we can conclude that neither red or white wine had any impact on study participants as a whole.”

He added: “The only positive and continuous result was in the subgroup of patients who took more exercise, which means regular exercise at least twice a week, plus the wine consumption. In this group, HDL cholesterol increased and LDL and total cholesterol decreased in the red and white wine groups. There may be some synergy between the low dose of ethyl alcohol in wine and exercise which is protective against CVD.”