Fruit and Vegetables Consumption and Risk of Hypertension: A Meta-Analysis

The association between fruit and vegetables (FVs) consumption and hypertension risk remains controversial. A systematic search was performed in PubMed and the Web of Science for relevant articles published in English or Chinese up to April 2015. A total of 25 studies with 334,468 patients (41,713 cases) were included in the present meta-analysis. When comparing the highest with the lowest consumption, the pooled relative risks of hypertension were 0.812 (95% confidence interval, 0.740-0.890) for FVs, 0.732 (95% confidence interval, 0.621-0.861) for fruit, and 0.970 (95% confidence interval, 0.918-1.024) for vegetables. A significantly inverse association between fruit consumption and hypertension risk was found in studies carried out in Asia (relative risk, 0.70; 95% confidence interval, 0.61-0.79). Influence analysis revealed that no individual study had an excessive influence on the pooled relative risks. The present meta-analysis indicates that FV consumption might be inversely associated with hypertension risk, which still needs to be confirmed by prospective cohort studies.