Watson presented her data here Sunday at the 97th annual meeting of the American Thoracic Society. The patients were all at least 45 years old and had smoked a pack of cigarettes a day for at least 10 years, Watson said. After adjusting for other independent factors associated with COPD, the researchers found that eating one portion of vegetables per day reduced the risk of COPD by almost half. Eating one and one-half portions of fruit, particularly apples, also significantly reduced COPD risk. Although the mechanism of this effect is unclear, Watson suspects that the antioxidant content of fruits and vegetables is responsible.
Antioxidants help prevent damage to healthy cells.
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