A new study following nearly 500,000 people living in different regions of China finds that eating more fruit can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.

Although it's not new to Western studies, this has been the first study showing promise specifically in China, where stroke is a more common form of cardiovascular disease than ischaemic heart disease (which is more common in the West).

Oxford University researchers studied 451,681 Chinese citizens with no history of cardiovascular disease from 10 different regions-half rural, half urban-for seven years. Throughout that time, the participants rated their consumption of fruit on a scale of never to daily.

Of those, 18 percent consumed fruit daily, 1.5 servings on average.

Compared to those who never ate fruit, those who ate fruit daily reduced their risk by 25-40 percent and reduced their blood pressure.

Read More:

• Fruit consumption could slash heart disease risk by 40% (Food Navigator)
• Eating at least one piece of fruit a day cuts risk of heart attack by 40 per cent, finds major study (The Telegraph)