Variety in fruit and vegetable consumption and cardiovascular health

Identifier:  TDX:3924

Handle: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11797/TDX3924

Authors:  López González, Leyre

Abstract:
In many epidemiological studies, fruits and vegetables (FV) have been positively associated with diet quality, lifestyle and human health.Most of the studies that have evaluated the associations between FV consumption and human health have only focused on the total amount of FV consumed per day, without taking into consideration its variety. Therefore, the aim of this thesis is to evaluate the association between variety in FV consumption and diet quality, lifestyle and cardiometabolic risk in the PREDIMED-plus study with 6.874 participants. The results showed a significant inverse association between a varied consumption of FV (also in combination with higher amounts) and the risk of having inadequate intakes of dietary fiber and micronutrients. Besides, a varied intake of FV was also significantly associated with better diet quality and a healthier lifestyle. A varied consumption of FV (also in combination with higher amounts) was prospectively associated with a decrease in fasting blood glucose, body weight and waist circumference.In conclusion, greater variety in FV consumption, in combination with higher amounts, would be beneficial for diet quality and cardiometabolic risk in elderly individuals at high cardiovascular risk.