--- title: Eating Fruit Cuts Heart Disease Risk By 40% description: An extra helping of leafy-greens is good for your heart canonical: https://time.com/3263737/eating-fruits-cuts-heart-disease-risk/ author: Alexandra Sifferlin article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-09-03T18:19:58.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T09:59:09.092Z article:section: Health og:title: Eating Fruit Cuts Heart Disease Risk By 40% og:description: An extra helping of leafy-greens is good for your heart og:url: https://time.com/3263737/eating-fruits-cuts-heart-disease-risk/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd120a45ad7dec6b0/69869602d0b6f231f9304b21/heart.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Heart with coronary vessels og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Eating Fruit Cuts Heart Disease Risk By 40% twitter:description: An extra helping of leafy-greens is good for your heart twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd120a45ad7dec6b0/69869602d0b6f231f9304b21/heart.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Eating Fruit Cuts Heart Disease Risk by 40% ## Video: The Truth About Fat [Watch (HLS stream): The Truth About Fat](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/uYGhfNfS.m3u8) (5:15)  _Published 2014-06-12. When you want to lose weight or get healthy, what is the first thing you would normally cut from your diet? If you said fat, you're not alone_ by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Sep 3, 2014 6:19 PM UTC  Heart with coronary vessels Heart with coronary vesselsPasieka—Getty Images by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Sep 3, 2014 6:19 PM UTC Eating fruit every day can lower risk of heart disease by up to 40%, [new research suggests](http://spo.escardio.org/SessionDetails.aspx?eevtid=69&sessId=13830#.VAdZk2RdVMo). A new study that looked at more than 451,680 participants over seven years asked the group to report their fruit consumption, whether it be never, monthly, 1-3 days per week, 4-6 days per week, or daily. The researchers found that compared to people who never eat fruit, those who eat fruit every day cut their heart disease risk by 25% to 40%. Those who ate the most amount of fruit also had much lower blood pressure compared to the participants who never ate fruit. The study is not the first to find a connection between eating fruit and having better heart health. One [study](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15523086?dopt=Citation) of about 110,000 men and women over 14 years found that people who eat fruit and vegetables every day had a lower risk of developing cardiovascular disease, and some studies have found that [citrus fruits](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21389640) like oranges, lemons and grapefruits have especially protective benefits. Next time you’re in need of a snack, grab an apple over a bag of chips. 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