Tag Archives: White

Pears and apples lower stroke risk

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Eating lots of fruits and vegetables with white flesh may protect against stroke, the latest research has found.

While previous studies linked high fruit and vegetable consumption with lower stroke risk, this study is the first to examine food colour groups and stroke.

The study, conducted at Wageningen University in the Netherlands, looked at the link between food colour group consumption and the incidence of stroke in a sample of 20,069 adults free of cardiovascular disease and aged 41 on average.

It found that the risk of stroke incidence was 52 percent lower for people with a high intake of white fruits and vegetables compared to people with a low intake.

Each 25 gram daily increase in the consumption of white fruits and vegetables was associated with a 9 percent lower risk of stroke. An average apple weighs 120 grams.

Apples

Apples

White fleshed apples and pears are high in dietary fibre and a pigment called quercetin. The other white flesh foods in the study included bananas, cauliflower, chicory and cucumber.

“To prevent stroke, it may be useful to consume considerable amounts of white fruits and vegetables,” said lead author Linda M. Oude Griep.

“For example, eating one apple a day is an easy way to increase white fruits and vegetable intake.”

However, she cautioned it is too early for doctors to advise patients to change their dietary habits based on the initial findings.


Commenting on the study results, Dr Heike Wersching from University of Münster in Germany, said: “The observed reduction in stroke risk might further be due to a generally healthier lifestyle of individuals consuming a diet rich in fruits and vegetables.”

Dr Sharlin Ahmed of the The Stroke Association said: “It’s interesting to see that fruit and vegetables with white flesh, such as apples and pears, could reduce a person’s stroke risk more so than others.

“However, this should not deter people from eating other colours of fruit and veg as they all have health benefits and remain an important part of a stable diet. A lot more research is needed before the colour of our groceries alone is used to determine what health benefits they may have.”

Concern over salt levels in bread

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More than 1 in 4 loaves of bread contain as much or more salt per slice than a packet of crisps, a survey has found.

The alarming findings follow news that bread is the largest contributor of salt to the UK diet, providing almost a fifth of current daily salt intake.

Consensus Action on Salt & Health (CASH) surveyed the salt content of 294 fresh and packaged loaves from supermarkets and their in-store bakeries, as well as chain and independent high street bakeries, and found large variations in the salt content of the bread.

For instance, the highest standard packaged bread, Cranks Seeded Farmhouse at 2.03g/100g, contains nearly four times more salt than the lowest, a Marks & Spencer’s Simply More Eat Well Healthiest White Bread (0.58g/100g).

CASH found supermarkets’ unlabelled in-store bakery bread is generally higher in salt than the supermarkets’ packaged bread, with differences of more than half a gram between similar products.

Premium high street bakery chains such as Paul and Le Pain Quotidien also fared poorly, their bread being both unlabeled and in some instances containing more than three times as much salt per 100g than bread baked in supermarkets.

Bread

Bread

“Most people wouldn’t realise that bread contains so much salt, as it doesn’t taste salty,” said Katharine Jenner, CASH Campaign Director.

CASH said speciality breads, such as rye bread, are often perceived as healthier options; however, they can be deceptively high in salt. It advises consumers to choose products containing 1 gram or less salt per 100g, or about 0.4g per slice.

“With bread being the biggest contributor of salt to our diets, it is frankly outrageous that bread still contains so much salt. The Department of Health needs to ensure that all bread is clearly labelled and that all manufacturers reduce the salt of bread to less than the salt target of 1g/100g,” said Professor Graham MacGregor of the Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine and Chairman of CASH.


“It is the very high levels of salt that is hidden in everyday food, such as bread, that puts up both adults’ and children’s blood pressure. If all manufacturers cut the salt in their breads by a half, it would reduce our salt intakes by half a gram per day, which is predicted to prevent over 3,000 deaths from strokes and heart attacks a year.”

Popular packaged breads with highest salt content (per 100g)

*Cranks seeded farmhouse, 2.03g
*Vogel’s original mixed grain, 1.38g
*Asda Chosen By You Baker’s Gold white farmhouse, 1.2g
*Marks & Spencer Eat Well multigrain bloomer with 30% grains, 1.15g
*Morrisons thick sunflower and pumpkin loaf, 1.1g

Five loaves with lowest salt

*Marks & Spencer Simply More Eat Well healthiest white bread, 0.58g
*Tesco Stayfresh white sliced bread medium, 0.6g
*Marks & Spencer Eat Well oaty bloomer, made with 30% oats, 0.65g
*Marks & Spencer toasting white, 0.73g
*Sainsbury’s medium wholemeal, 0.74g