for the love of it...
  • About
  • Awesome Eats
  • Fitness / Press
  • Photo / Video
  • Tread Lightly

New evidence linking fruit and vegetable consumption with lower mortality

4/4/2014

0 Comments

 
A new study published in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health reviewed the eating habits of 65,226 people representative of the English population between 2001 and 2013. They found that eating seven or more portions reduces the specific risks of death by cancer and heart disease by 25% and 31% respectively. This is the first study to link fruit and vegetable consumption with all-cause, cancer and heart disease deaths in a nationally-representative population, the first to quantify health benefits per-portion, and the first to identify the types of fruit and vegetable with the most benefit. 
Picture
Compared to eating less than one portion of fruit and vegetables, the risk of death by any cause is reduced by 14% by eating one to three portions, 29% for three to five portions, 36% for five to seven portions and 42% for seven or more. These figures are adjusted for sex, age, cigarette smoking, social class, Body Mass Index, education, physical activity and alcohol intake, and exclude deaths within a year of the food survey.
Picture
The study found that fresh vegetables had the strongest protective effect, with each daily portion reducing overall risk of death by 16%. Salad contributed to a 13% risk reduction per portion, and each portion of fresh fruit was associated with a smaller but still significant 4% reduction.

"We all know that eating fruit and vegetables is healthy, but the size of the effect is staggering," says Dr Oyinlola Oyebode of UCL's Department of Epidemiology & Public Health, lead author of the study. "The clear message here is that the more fruit and vegetables you eat, the less likely you are to die at any age. Vegetables have a larger effect than fruit, but fruit still makes a real difference. If you're happy to snack on carrots or other vegetables, then that is a great choice but if you fancy something sweeter, a banana or any fruit will also do you good."

The researchers found no evidence of significant benefit from fruit juice, and canned and frozen fruit appeared to increase risk of death by 17% per portion. The survey did not distinguish between canned and frozen fruit so this finding is difficult to interpret. Canned fruit products are almost four times more popular than frozen fruit in Europe, so it is likely that canned fruit dominated this effect.

"Most canned fruit contains high sugar levels and cheaper varieties are packed in syrup rather than fruit juice," explains Dr Oyebode. "The negative health impacts of the sugar may well outweigh any benefits. Another possibility is that there are confounding factors that we could not control for, such as poor access to fresh groceries among people who have pre-existing health conditions, hectic lifestyles or who live in deprived areas."

Report from: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/03/140331194030.htm
Journal Reference: Oyinlola Oyebode, Vanessa Gordon-Dseagu, Alice Walker, Jennifer S Mindell. Fruit and vegetable consumption and all-cause, cancer and CVD mortality: analysis of Health Survey for England data. J Epidemiol Community Health, 31 March 2014 DOI: 10.1136/jech-2013-203500
Picture
Don't be daunted by the number of vegetable and fruit servings we should be aiming for. You can get at least 4 of those in a nice big smoothie. It's quick, easy and delicious. Click on the image for some of my personal favs :)
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    Clean, plant based recipes for EVERYONE :) And some research thrown in for good measure. 


    Instagram

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    February 2017
    September 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    December 2015
    October 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    April 2015
    February 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013

    Categories

    All
    Breakfast
    Dressings And Dips
    Food For Thought Articles
    Mains
    Movies
    Research Studies
    Salads
    Smoothies
    Snacks
    Soup
    Treats

© 2013 fortheloveofit.org.nz. All rights reserved.
anna_cochrane04@yahoo.co.nz