Eating Fruit Every Day May Prevent Heart Attacks, Study Suggests

BEIJING (CBS) – An apple a day may really keep the doctor away, according to new research.

An article in this month's New England Journal of Medicine reports that a large study out of China found that eating fresh fruit regularly could do wonders for the heart.

Researchers discovered that people who ate fruit every day had lower blood pressure and "significantly lower risks of major cardiovascular diseases."

The U.S. National Library of Medicine writes that, according to this study, daily fruit consumption lowers the risk of dying from a heart attack or stroke by one-third, compared to people who rarely or never eat fruit.

"Fruit consumption is important for your cardiovascular health," the study's lead researcher says.

Experts say more work is needed to figure out if eating fruit is directly responsible for improving heart health.