FRUIT, VEGETABLES AND HEALTH

The simplicity of aiming for five fruit and vegetable portions a day is brilliant. Achieving it is rather harder for many. And now the science has become more complicated. Instinctively, we know we should eat healthier to be healthier. Some of us are adopting positive nutrition choices in preference to medicine, supplements or even exercise. A huge study of dietary data from almost 500,000 people in Europe, however, has “found only a weak association between high fruit and vegetable intake and reduced overall cancer risk” – The Economist, 8th April 2010. “Those who eat virtually no fruit and vegetables .... are only 9% more likely to develop cancer than those who stick to the WHO recommendations.” There’s better news on other concerns. People who consume their five a day have a 30% lower incidence of heart disease and strokes.