The longest and largest study of whether eating 5 servings of fruit and vegetables a day can protect against cancer, has just been published. 400.000 participants in 10 European countries were studied and it was found that the positive effects of eating all these servings, which has been promoted for the last decade, is very limited where cancer is concerned. Eating 5 servings per day, however, was found to have extremely positive effects in protecting against heart disease and strokes – so it makes sense to keep on chowing down your fruit and veggies no matter what. The study didn’t take into account the fact that by eating all these fiber-rich servings of fruit and vege, most people will be eating less junk food, which will reduce their intake of sugar, fat, salt,chemicals and preservatives – all of which have been implicated in ill health across the board. Further, in the study, certain fruits and veggies were found to protect against specific cancers: for example, lypocene in tomatoes helps ward off prostate cancer.
Wonderful, my nutritionist says i need to eat more like 8/9 servings a day. The more the better she says. ♥
I’ve just recently begun to make my own green smoothies and am experimenting with lots of variations. There is a lot of good information on the web about the benefits of getting more veggies, greens especially, into our diets. I’ve seen a difference already after only being at it for a week. There’s a website, Green Smoothie Girl, which has lots of info on it.