Effect of Fruit Juice on Cholesterol and Blood Pressure in Adults: A Meta-Analysis of 19 Randomized Controlled Trials

Background: The effect of fruit juice on serum cholesterol and blood pressure in humans has generated inconsistent results. We aimed to quantitatively evaluate the effect of fruit juice on serum cholesterol and blood pressure in adults. Methods: We performed a strategic literature search of PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library (updated to October, 2012) for randomized controlled trials that evaluated the effects of fruit juice on serum cholesterol and blood pressure. Study quality was assessed by using the Jadad scale. Weighted mean differences were calculated for net changes in cholesterol and blood pressure by using fixed-effects model. Prespecified subgroup and sensitivity analyses were conducted to explore the potential heterogeneity. Results: Nineteen trials comprising a total of 618 subjects were included in this meta-analysis. Fruit juice consumption borderlinely reduced the diastolic blood pressure (DBP) by 2.07 mm Hg (95% CI: -3.75, -0.39 mm Hg; p = 0.02), but did not show significant effects on total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C), low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C) concentrations or systolic blood pressure (SBP) values. A significant reduction of TC concentration was observed in low-median intake of total polyphenols group. Subgroup analyses for HDL-C and LDL-C concentrations did not show statistically significant results. No significant heterogeneity was detected for all the measures. Conclusion: This meta-analysis suggested that fruit juice had a borderline significant effect on reducing DBP, but had no effect on TC, HDL-C, LDL-C concentrations or SBP.