By Robert Preidt

Getting people worldwide to eat more fruits and vegetables could significantly reduce disability and premature death from heart disease, researchers report.

For the study, investigators analyzed data and previous studies to determine how fruit and vegetable consumption affected the number of "heart disease-related disability-adjusted life years" (DALYs) -- healthy years lost to disability or death -- in 195 countries. Each DALY is one lost year of healthy life.

The study was based on data from the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation at UW, affiliated with the Department of Global Health. 

Read the article.