Eat Your Fruits and Veggies! by Jim Edward A fruit and vegetable intake above five-a-day shows major benefits
Dagfinn Aune, M.D., lead author of the research from the School
in reducing the chance of heart attack, stroke, cancer and early
of Public Health at Imperial. “Our results suggest that although five
death. This is the finding of new research led by scientists from
portions of fruit and vegetables is good, 10 a day is even better."
Imperial College London, which analyzed 95 studies on fruit and vegetable intake. The team found that, although even the
Reducing Disease Risk
recommended five portions of fruits and vegetables a day reduced
The results revealed that even a daily intake of 200 g was
disease risk, the greatest benefit came from eating 800 grams (g)
associated with a 16 percent reduced risk of heart disease, an
a day (roughly equivalent to 10 portions—one portion of fruit or
18 percent reduced risk of stroke, and a 13 percent reduced risk
vegetables is defined as 80 g).
of cardiovascular disease. This amount, which is equivalent to
The study, which was a meta-analysis of all available research
two and a half portions, was also associated with a four percent
in populations worldwide, included up to 2 million people and
reduced risk in cancer risk, and a 15 percent reduction in the risk of
assessed up to 43,000 cases of heart disease, 47,000 cases of stroke,
premature death.
81,000 cases of cardiovascular disease, 112,000 cancer cases and
Further benefits were observed with higher intakes. Eating
94,000 deaths. In the research, published in the International Journal
up to 800 g of fruits and vegetables a day, or 10 portions, was
of Epidemiology, the team estimated approximately 7.8 million
associated with:
premature deaths worldwide could potentially be prevented every year if people ate 10 portions, or 800 g, of fruit and vegetables a day. The team also analyzed which types of fruits and vegetables provided the greatest protection against disease. “We wanted to
»» 24% reduced risk of heart disease »» 33% reduced risk of stroke »» 28% reduced risk of cardiovascular disease
investigate how much fruit and vegetables you need to eat to gain
»» 13% reduced risk of total cancer
the maximum protection against disease and premature death,” said
»» 31% reduction in dying prematurely
42 / LIVING SAFER / VOL 9 ED 1