Association between Fruit and Vegetable Intake and Arterial Stiffness: The China-PAR Project.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the association between fruit and vegetable intake and arterial stiffness.

Methods: We conducted a cohort-based study comprising 6,628 participants with arterial stiffness information in the Prediction for Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease Risk in China (China-PAR) project. A semi-quantitative food-frequency questionnaire was used to assess baseline (2007-2008) and recent (2018-2021) fruit and vegetable intake. We assessed changes in fruit and vegetable intake from 2007-2008 to 2018-2021 in 6,481 participants. Arterial stiffness was measured using the arterial velocity-pulse index (AVI) and arterial pressure-volume index (API). Elevated AVI and API values were defined according to diverse age reference ranges.

Results: Multivariable-adjusted linear regression models revealed that every 100 g/d increment in fruit and vegetable intake was associated with a 0.11 decrease in AVI ( = -0.11; 95% confidence interval [ ]: -0.20, -0.02) on average, rather than API ( = 0.02; 95% : -0.09, 0.13). The risk of elevated AVI (odds ratio [ ] = 0.82; 95% : 0.70, 0.97) is 18% lower in individuals with high intake (≥ 500 g/d) than in those with low intake (< 500 g/d). Furthermore, maintaining a high intake in the past median of 11.5 years of follow-up was associated with an even lower risk of elevated AVI compared with a low intake at both baseline and follow-up ( = 0.64; 95% : 0.49, 0.83).

Conclusion: Fruit and vegetable intake was negatively associated with arterial stiffness, emphasizing recommendations for adherence to fruit and vegetable intake for the prevention of arterial stiffness.