Combined Fruit and Vegetable Intake Is Correlated with Improved Inflammatory and Oxidant Status from a Cross-Sectional Study in a Community Setting

Abstract

Previous studies have examined the relationship between specific nutrient and food intakes with limited markers of either inflammation or oxidant status. The objective of this study was to determine if an increase in combined self-reported fruit and vegetable (F&V) intake in a community setting was associated with improved multiple markers of inflammatory and oxidant status. A community group (N = 1000, age 18–85 years, 61% female) gave two fasted blood samples separated by 12 weeks. Blood inflammatory biomarkers included total leukocytes (WBC), plasma C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin-6 (IL-6), IL-10, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), monocyte chemoattractant protein-1, and granulocyte colony stimulating factor. Measured oxidant status markers were ferric reducing ability of plasma (FRAP), oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) and plasma F2-isoprostanes. The relation of markers across categories of F&V intake was examined. In analyses controlling for other important dietary and lifestyle factors, IL-6 and TNF-α were significantly lower across categories of increasing F&V intakes (p < 0.008). FRAP and ORAC were significantly higher (p < 0.0001 and p = 0.047 respectively) while F2-isoprostanes was significantly lower (p < 0.0001) across F&V categories. In a community study, several markers of both inflammation and oxidant status were associated in a putatively salutary direction by higher intake of combined F&V, supporting current guidelines suggesting increased F&V consumption for the prevention of chronic diseases.

Quantity and variety in fruit and vegetable intake and risk of coronary heart disease

“…Most recently, variety in fruit and vegetable intake, in addition to quantity, was associated with a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes (25). Greater fruit and vegetable variety might allow exposure to a greater range of antioxidants, which may improve markers of endothelial dysfunction (26) and inflammation (27). For example, in a crosssectional analysis of Puerto Rican adults, those in the highest tertile of fruit and vegetable variety had a 32% lower odds of elevated C-reactive protein compared with participants with the least variety (22).…”

Anti-Inflammatory Nutrition and Successful Ageing in Elderly Individuals: The Multinational MEDIS Study

“…It has been illustrated that nutrition centered on meat consumption is highly related to inflammation [9,10,37] . In contrast, a diet centered around vegetable or fruit consumption is inversely associated with inflammatory markers [38,39] . Moreover, it is well known that high adherence to the traditional Mediterranean dietary pattern has been associated with lower inflammation levels in the human body [40] .…”

Higher Fruit Intake Is Related to <b><i>TNF-α</i></b> Hypomethylation and Better Glucose Tolerance in Healthy Subjects

“…In this context, a beneficial effect of FV, in particular fruits, has been already described in relation to oxidative stress [5,45] and inflammation [6,46]. For example, it has been reported that a high FV intake reduces interleukin-6 and TNF-α concentrations and is associated with higher antioxidant capacity in plasma [46,47,48]. These effects are mainly attributed to antioxidants and bioactive compounds found in FV, especially vitamin C and fiber [49], which corroborates our results.…”