Five-a-day of fruit and veg is good, but '10 is better'

Conclusion This research supports the idea that the more fruit and veg you eat the better – at least, up to 10 portions (800g) a day. It also suggests the number of people who die early might be reduced if they were to eat more than the current recommended guideline daily amount. However, before we take this at face value, there are some important considerations: There are likely to be many confounding factors that may have affected the results. It might be that people who eat a lot of fruit and veg are also more likely to be physically active, consume less alcohol, not smoke and be a healthy weight, or other factors that might mean better health outcomes. It's not just fruit and vegetable intake that influences the risk of getting certain diseases and dying early. The study didn't look at all diseases, such as infectious or respiratory conditions, so it might be the case that eating more fruit and veg than the guideline amount is not beneficial for reducing the risk of developing all diseases. The studies included might have varied in several ways – for example, the country the research was conducted in might have influenced things like the way fruit and vegetables were prepared, the different types of fruit and vegetables available, and other dietary and lifestyle factors. There were few studies looking at the specific types of fruits and vegetables, so it might be there are other fruit and vegetables that are also beneficial but not listed. There we...
Source: NHS News Feed - Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Food/diet Heart/lungs Cancer Medical practice Source Type: news