LAUSR

There is a solid foundation of evidence from longitudinal and interventional studies that a high intake of fruit is associated with a lower risk of hypertension and associated outcomes. However, the recommended target of five a day fruit is barely reached, even among health care providers, as recently shown in the UK, where only 17% of hospital staff succeeded. Here, findings are in contrast to a plethora of scientific evidence, namely a positive association between the DASH score for fruit intake and hypertension in Vietnamese adults. The study was cross-sectional and included a relatively small sample of over 2400 adults when compared with other reports on fruit intake. The authors speculate that perhaps a high fructose intake may be accountable for the positive association with hypertension, but this may be unlikely when considering previous negative findings on fruit (and fruit juice) intake and the risk of hypertension development. Whether ethnic-specific sensitivity towards high fruit consumption and cardiovascular risk is at play also needs consideration. What should be taken from this study and previous large-scale studies investigating individual fruits is that all fruits may not been created equal and there is potential to identify specific fruits that seem to be more cardioprotective than others, such as apples and pears. For example, the beneficial results for apples and raisins replicated earlier findings from the more than 28,000 participants from the Women’s Health Study, which also indicated oranges – but not bananas, strawberries or blueberries – to be associated with a reduced risk of hypertension.