A meta-analysis published in the Oct. 2006 issue of the Journal of Nutrition found that the risk of coronary heart disease declined with increased consumption of fruit and vegetables.

A meta-analysis is an analysis of multiple studies performed previously. This particular meta-analysis evaluated nine previous studies which included over 90,000 men and 129,000 women.

The review found a reduced risk of coronary heart disease associated with fruit and vegetable intake. The decrease was found to be 4 percent for each additional fruit and vegetable portion consumed per day. When fruit alone was studied, the reduction in risk increased to 7 percent.

While it’s possible that the subjects eating larger quantities of fruit and vegetables had an overall healthier lifestyle, which could be responsible for part or all of the observed effects, the authors still concluded that “this analysis presents evidence of a beneficial association between fruit and vegetable consumption and CHD risk, supporting the recommendation to eat a sufficient amount of fruit and vegetables to lower CHD risk.”

You can read the meta-analysis abstract here.