***TASK*** the task is to summarize an input biomedical literature in six sentences 
    ***INPUT*** the input is a biomedical literature 
    ***OUTPUT*** the output is the summary of an input biomedical literature in six sentences 
    ***DOCUMENTATION*** 
    ***EXAMPLES*** 
    Input: BACKGROUND Fruit and vegetables is a heterogeneous food group with different content of dietary fiber , vitamins , minerals , carotenoids , and bioactive phytochemicals . Our objective was to examine the relation between specific consumption of fruit and vegetable subgroups and stroke risk in a cohort of Swedish women and men . METHODS AND RESULTS We prospect ively followed 74,961 participants ( 34,670 women and 40,291 men ) who had completed a food frequency question naire in the autumn of 1997 and were free from stroke , coronary heart disease , and cancer at baseline . Diagnoses of stroke in the cohort during follow-up were ascertained from the Swedish Hospital Discharge Registry . A total of 4089 stroke cases , including 3159 cerebral infa rct ions , 435 intracerebral hemorrhages , 148 subarachnoid hemorrhages , and 347 unspecified strokes , were ascertained during 10.2 years of follow-up . The multivariable relative risk ( RR ) of total stroke for the highest vs. lowest category of total fruit and vegetable consumption was 0.87 ( 95 % confidence interval [ CI ] 0.78 - 0.97 ; P for trend = 0.01 ) . The association was confined to individuals without hypertension ( corresponding RR , 0.81 ; 95 % CI , 0.71 - 0.93 ; P for trend = 0.01 ) . Among individual fruits and vegetable subgroups , inverse associations with total stroke were observed for apples/pears ( RR , 0.89 ; 95 % CI , 0.80 - 0.98 ; P for trend = 0.02 ) and green leafy vegetables ( RR , 0.92 ; 95 % CI , 0.81 - 1.04 ; P for trend = 0.03 ) . CONCLUSION This study shows an inverse association of fruit and vegetable consumption with stroke risk . Particularly consumption of apples and pears and green leafy vegetables was inversely associated with stroke Increased fruit and vegetable consumption may protect against  lung cancer  , although epidemiologic findings are inconclusive . The authors prospect ively examined associations between  lung cancer  risk and intakes of fruit , vegetables , and botanical subgroups in 472,081 participants aged 50 - 71 years in the National Institutes of Health (NIH)-AARP Diet and Health Study . Diet was assessed at baseline ( 1995 - 1996 ) with a 124-item dietary question naire . A total of 6,035 incident lung cancer cases were identified between 1995 and 2003 .  Total fruit and vegetable intake was unrelated to lung cancer risk in both men and women . Higher consumption of several botanical subgroups , however , was significantly inversely associated with risk , but only in men . For example , the relative risks of lung cancer among men in the highest versus lowest quintiles of intake of rosaceae , convolvulaceae , and umbelliferae were 0.82 ( 95 % confidence interval ( CI ) : 0.73 , 0.91 ) , 0.86 ( 95 % CI : 0.75 , 0.96 ) , and 0.86 ( 95 % CI : 0.78 , 0.96 ) , respectively ; corresponding relative risks in women were 0.97 ( 95 % CI : 0.85 , 1.12 ) , 0.95 ( 95 % CI : 0.83 , 1.09 ) , and 0.92 ( 95 % CI : 0.80 , 1.06 ) . These results provide support for a protective role of specific botanical subgroups of fruits and vegetables in lung cancer prevention in men , although the findings could also be due to residual confounding by smoking or chance BACKGROUND There is probable evidence that some types of fruit and vegetables provide protection against many cancers . OBJECTIVE We hypothesized that fruit and vegetable intakes are inversely related to the incidence of total cancers among women and men aged > 50 y. DESIGN We performed a prospect i ve study among the cohort of the National Institutes of Health-AARP Diet and Health Study . We merged the MyPyramid Equivalents Data base ( version 1.0 ) with food-frequency- question naire data to calculate cup equivalents for fruit and vegetables .  From 1995 to 2003 , we identified 15,792 and 35,071 cancer cases in 195,229 women and 288,109 men , respectively . We used Cox proportional hazards models to estimate multivariate relative risks ( RRs ) and 95 % CIs associated with the highest compared with the lowest quintile ( Q ) of fruit and vegetable intakes . RESULTS Fruit intake was not associated with the risk of total cancer among women ( RR(Q5 vs Q1 ) = 0.99 ; 95 % CI : 0.94 , 1.05 ; P trend = 0.059 ) or men ( RR(Q5 vs Q1 ) = 0.98 ; 95 % CI : 0.95 , 1.02 ; P for trend = 0.17 ) . Vegetable intake was not associated with risk of total cancer among women ( RR(Q5 vs Q1 ) = 1.04 ; 95 % CI : 0.98 , 1.09 ; P for trend = 0.084 ) , but was associated with a significant decrease in risk in men ( RR(Q5 vs Q1 ) = 0.94 ; 95 % CI : 0.91 , 0.97 ; P trend = 0.004 ) . This significant finding among men was no longer evident when we limited the analysis to men who never smoked ( RR(Q5 vs Q1 ) = 0.97 ; 95 % CI : 0.91 , 1.04 ; P for trend = 0.474 ) . CONCLUSIONS Intake of fruit and vegetables was generally unrelated to total cancer incidence in this cohort . Residual confounding by smoking is a likely explanation for the observed inverse association with vegetable intake among men Objectives : To determine the patterns and possible explanations for gender differences in food choices , nutrient intakes and status indices , especially for micronutrients , in a representative sample of older people living in Britain , who participated in the National Diet and Nutrition Survey of people aged 65 y and over during 1994–95 . Design : The Survey procedures included a health- and -lifestyle interview , a four-day weighed diet record , anthropometric measurements and a fasting blood sample for biochemical indices . Setting : Eighty r and omly-selected postcode sectors from mainl and Britain . Subjects : Of 1556 older people not living in institutions who were interviewed , 80 % agreed to provide a complete four-day diet record and 63 % agreed to give a blood sample for status index measurements . Interventions : None . Main result : The most highly significant gender differences in food choices were that women ate more butter , full-fat milk and certain beverages , cakes , apples , pears and bananas , whereas men ate more eggs , sugar , certain meat products and drank more alcoholic drinks , especially beer and lager . When adjusted for energy intakes , the younger women ( 65–79 y ) had higher intakes than the younger men , of fat , retinol , vitamin C and calcium . The older women ( 80+y ) had higher intakes than older men , of fat and vitamin E , but lower intakes of protein , zinc and β-carotene . The younger women had better status indices than the younger men : for α- and β-carotenes , β-cryptoxanthin and vitamin C. Women had higher plasma concentrations of cholesterol and HDL cholesterol , phosphate and copper , but lower indices of iron and vitamin D status , than men . These gender differences in status were not altered by inclusion of the corresponding nutrient intakes in the model . Conclusions : There are gender differences in food choices , in energy and nutrient intakes and in nutritional blood status indices in older British people , especially those aged 65–79 y. Some of the status differences are attenuated in the age group of 80 y and older , whereas others are enhanced . The relationships between the quantity and type of foods or nutrients consumed , and nutrient status , are complex . With respect to suspected risk and protective factors for vascular disease , women aged 65–79 y had significantly better status for plasma α- and β-carotene , ascorbate , HDL-cholesterol and homocysteine ; but , in contrast , they had lower blood haemoglobin concentrations and higher concentrations of total and non-HDL-cholesterol . Sponsorship : The British National Diet and Nutrition Survey series is funded by the Ministry of Agriculture , Fisheries and Food and the Department of Health , and this survey was conducted by Social and Community Planning Research in conjunction with MRC Human Nutrition Research ( formerly MRC Dunn Nutritional Laboratory ) Abstract Epidemiological studies have shown an inverse correlation between a fruit and vegetable-rich diet and cardiovascular diseases ; this beneficial effect of fruits and vegetables is probably due to the presence of antioxidant phytochemicals . In contrast , cigarette smoking is a high risk factor for lung and heart diseases , associated with chronic oxidative stress . In the present study , the effect of the consumption of a pear , an apple and 200 ml orange juice , during 26 days , on total plasma antioxidant capacity ( TAC ) and lipid profile of chronic smokers and non-smoking healthy adults was analyzed . Fruit consumption increased TAC in non-smokers , but not in smokers . In non-smokers , total cholesterol , high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol , and low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol increased significantly ; while in smokers , total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol decreased . We may conclude fruit/juice supplementation showed different effects , depending on the smoking habit : in non-smokers it increased TAC and cholesterol ; in smokers it reduced cholesterol , whithout inducing a TAC increase The association of fruit and vegetable consumption and  lung cancer  incidence was evaluated using the most recent data from the European Prospect i ve Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition ( EPIC ) , applying a refined statistical approach ( calibration ) to account for measurement error potentially introduced by using food frequency question naire data . Between 1992 and 2000 , detailed information on diet and life-style of 478,590 individuals participating in EPIC was collected . During a median follow-up of 6.4 years , 1,126 lung cancer cases were observed . Multivariate Cox proportional hazard models were applied for statistical evaluation . In the whole study population , fruit consumption was significantly inversely associated with lung cancer risk while no association was found for vegetable consumption . In current smokers , however , lung cancer risk significantly decreased with higher vegetable consumption ; this association became more pronounced after calibration , the hazard ratio ( HR ) being 0.78 ( 95 % CI 0.62 - 0.98 ) per 100 g increase in daily vegetable consumption . In comparison , the HR per 100 g fruit was 0.92 ( 0.85 - 0.99 ) in the entire cohort and 0.90 ( 0.81 - 0.99 ) in smokers . Exclusion of cases diagnosed during the first 2 years of follow-up strengthened these associations , the HR being 0.71 ( 0.55 - 0.94 ) for vegetables ( smokers ) and 0.86 ( 0.78 - 0.95 ) for fruit ( entire cohort ) . Cancer incidence decreased with higher consumption of apples and pears ( entire cohort ) as well as root vegetables ( smokers ) . In addition to an overall inverse association with fruit intake , the results of this evaluation add evidence for a significant inverse association of vegetable consumption and lung cancer incidence in smokers BACKGROUND Most infants consume fruit juices by 6 months of age . However , fruit juices containing sorbitol may be associated with carbohydrate malabsorption without clinical symptoms . We hypothesized that increased physical activity and metabolic rate may be associated with carbohydrate malabsorption . METHODS Physical activity and metabolic rate were determined in 14 healthy infants ( [ mean + /- SD ] age , 5.1 + /- 0.8 months ; weight , 7.8 + /- 1.1 kg ; length , 67 + /- 4.2 cm ; and body fat , 26 % + /- 5 % ) for 3 hours in a respiratory chamber . Seven were fed pear juice , and the other 7 were fed white grape juice ( 120 mL ) after a 2-hour fast . Pear juice contains sorbitol and a high fructose-glucose ratio , whereas white grape juice is sorbitol free and has a low fructose-glucose ratio . Carbohydrate absorption was determined by breath hydrogen gas analysis . The study was double-blinded . RESULTS When compared with the infants without carbohydrate malabsorption ( peak breath hydrogen level < 20 ppm above baseline ) , 5 of the 7 infants fed pear juice and 2 of the 7 infants fed white grape juice exhibited carbohydrate malabsorption ( peak breath hydrogen level > or = 20 ppm above baseline ; P < .01 ) . These infants also exhibited both increased physical activity ( P < .001 ) and metabolic rate ( P < .05 ) after juice consumption in comparison with infants with normal 
    Output:
    
Pears , similar to apples , are concentrated in fructose , and the high fiber and fructose in pears probably explain the laxative properties .
Pears contain antioxidants and provide between 27 and 41 mg of phenolics per 100 g. Animal studies with pears suggest that pears may regulate alcohol metabolism , protect against ulcers , and lower plasma lipids .