Eating more fruits and veggies for 3 months doesn’t lower blood pressure, cholesterol, or sugar levels—or make arteries less stiff—in healthy people who were already eating poorly.
Scientific Claim
Increasing daily fruit and vegetable intake from approximately 3 to 8.4 portions for 12 weeks has no significant effect on plasma homocysteine, glucose, lipids, blood pressure, or arterial stiffness in healthy adults aged 39–58 with low baseline intake, indicating no measurable improvement in vascular health markers within this timeframe.
Original Statement
“There were no significant changes in antioxidant capacity, DNA damage and markers of vascular health. ... increasing fruit, fruit juice and vegetable intake substantially did not change plasma total homocysteine concentrations ... Nor did it alter plasma glucose or lipid status ... or several markers of vascular health including BP, heart rate and vascular tone.”
Evidence Quality Assessment
Claim Status
appropriately stated
Study Design Support
Design supports claim
Appropriate Language Strength
definitive
Can make definitive causal claims
Assessment Explanation
The RCT design with repeated measures and validated clinical assays supports definitive conclusions. The authors correctly avoid inferring disease prevention from biomarker changes.
Evidence from Studies
Supporting (1)
The study found that eating more fruits and veggies for 12 weeks didn’t improve heart or blood vessel health markers like blood pressure or cholesterol, even though it boosted some vitamins — so the claim that it had no effect is correct.