Fruits & Vegetables and Health: A Scientific Overview

The scientific evidence for the health benefits of fruit and vegetable consumption continues to expand. The extensive literature characterizing the phytochemicals and other bioactive components in fruits and vegetables reflect advances in science and technology that have made it possible to identify how these agents might affect biological processes using more accurate and sophisticated endpoints.

This review provides an overview of recent studies related to fruit and vegetable consumption and health, with an emphasis on investigations of whole food sources. The goal of the review is to evaluate a potential independent effect of collective intake of fruits or vegetables or a combination of both. Individual fruits and vegetables are highlighted only if they emerged as statistically significant in analysis. Data for the review is based on peer-reviewed articles between January, 2002 and August, 2006, and included only human studies. The topics in this review are those for which the scientific literature is relatively small.

To access the full document you must be an IFAVA member. Please contact IFAVA for more information on how you can receive the information.