In another review of the the Nurses Health Study data (i.e., secondary data analysis), researchers Cassidy et al. (2013) found that persons who consumed the most anthocyanins in their diet (from strawberries and blueberries) had the least amount of heart attacks and death from heart disease during the 18 years of study. Only women were enrolled and at the start of data collection they were between the ages of 25 and 42. In the 18 years that followed, the women who ate the most blueberries and strawberries (as determine by food frequency recalls conducted every four years) had the least heart attacks. The research shows a link between eating strawberries and blueberries and a reduction in heart disease in middle aged women. Of course, it makes sense to infer the same protective effect to men and possibly older women. I say possibly because it may take some years of consumption for the benefit to kick in. The sooner you start eating blueberries and strawberries the better!
citation: Cassidy et al. (2013) See study here. It is free on line, published in the peer reviewed journal of the American Heart Association Circulation.
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