Eat Your Fruits and Vegetables: They May Lower Your Aneurysm Risk

It might not come as much of a surprise to some that eating your daily dose of fruits and veggies is an essential part daily nutrition.

Yet a new study shows that eating more of these guys could lower potential risks for an aortic aneurysm, a general swelling of the aorta to up to 1.5 the times of its original size with commonly fatal health consequences.

The study took data from over 80,000 individuals between the ages of 46 and 84, dividing them into four groups based on the amount of fruits and vegetables consumed each day. Researchers found that on a 13-year-follow-up study, approximately 1,086 people had abdominal aortic aneurysms, 222 of which ruptured.

Subjects ate a range of fruits, including apples, bananas, oranges, pears, etc.

Study results showed that the group that ate the most fruit (31 percent) had the lowest risk of an aneurysm and a 39 percent lower risk of a rupture.  

"A high consumption of fruits may help to prevent many vascular diseases, and our study suggests that a lower risk of abdominal aortic aneurysm will be among the benefits," said lead author Dr. Otto Stackelberg, a Ph.D. student in the nutritional epidemiology unit of the Institute of Environmental Medicine at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, via U.S. News and World Report. "Vegetables remain important for health. Other studies have found that eating more fruits and vegetables may decrease the risk of cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and several cancers."

However, study authors also note that eating lots of vegetables that are rich in antioxidants won't necessarily reduce the risk of abdominal aortic aneurysm. In fact, vegetables lack some types of antioxidants that are found in fruits according to researchers.

More information regarding the study can be found in the journal Circulation.