You’d be hard pressed to find someone who doesn’t know that getting five fruits and vegetables into your diet every day is good for your wellbeing, but when it comes to why this is, and why five as opposed to three or even eleven, people are a little bit more confused.
According to a whole host of research, when you eat more fruit and vegetables you have a lower risk of developing chronic diseases. The fibre, phytosterols, isoflavones, lutein, lycopene, minerals and vitamins in plant foods help to protect against cancer, coronary heart disease, stroke and possibly diabetes, as well as cataracts, diverticular disease, osteoporosis and obesity, but how?
According to a review of over 200 clinical studies, the more servings of fruit and veg you eat the better, as a protective quality of raw veg in particular, such as onions, garlic, carrots, green vegetables, members of the cabbage family, and tomatoes, helps to protect you against many cancers. In terms of heart wellness, an analysis of studies involving 278,000 people showed that three to five servings a day reduces your risk of coronary heart disease by 7%, and eating more fruit and veg than this increases your risk of the disease by 17%.
Another analysis of eight studies, in which more than 257,000 people were involved, found that eating five servings of fruit and vegetables a day reduces your risk of stroke by 11% compared with those who eat less than three a day, and eating more than five lowers your risk by 26%. It seems that, overall, each serving improves your wellness in this area a little more, as each additional fruit you eat reduces your stroke risk by 11%, and eat additional vegetable reduces it by 3%.
Finally, an analysis of data from five large studies has shown that you can reduce your risk of developing type 2 diabetes by roughly 4%, and the same authors found that the antioxidant levels you consume from eating fruits and vegetables that are high in vitamin E reduce your risk of the same disease by 13%. As you can see, your five-a-day is vital for good nutrition and disease prevention, but six, seven or more a day is infinitely better! So swap your soft drinks for smoothies, and your crisps for cucumber, and watch your wellness improve.
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