Apples cut heart risk

Eating at least three apples, or other sources of dietary fibre such as cereals, each day significantly cuts the risk of death from heart disease, US researchers say.

Pooling the results of 10 American and European studies involving more than 330,000 adult subjects, the University of Minnesota report said people who ate 10 grams of fibre daily reduced their risk of heart attack by 14 per cent and their risk of dying from coronary heart disease by 27 per cent.

A medium-sized apple contains roughly 3 grams of fibre, a slice of whole wheat bread contains 1.5g and a stalk of broccoli about 2.7g.

"The recommendations to consume a diet that includes an abundance of fibre-rich foods to prevent coronary heart disease are based on a wealth of consistent scientific evidence," wrote study author Mark Pereira.

The report, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, said 5249 of the subjects developed heart disease and 2011 died from the disease during the six to 10 years of follow-up.

Fibre in the diet has been found to lower blood pressure, cut blood levels of artery-clogging lipids and improve insulin sensitivity.

- REUTERS