Fruit and Veg and Serious Illness 水果、蔬菜和疾病
Five-a-Day 'No Benefit' 每日五份没效果
One of the most commonly-held beliefs
regarding
health and nutrition in the UK has been found to be
untrue
, according to a new scientific study.
For many years British people have been
recommend
ed to eat at least 'five-a-day' – that is five items of fruit or vegetables every day in order to improve their health and reduce the likelihood of illness,
in particular
cancer.
The recommendation was first
put forward
in 1990 by the World Health Organization which said that the 'five-a-day' diet could prevent cancer and other chronic diseases.
Since then the advice has been a
mainstay
of public health policies in many developed countries, such as the UK, where the population eat a high
proportion
of junk food.
Many health campaigns have
promote
d the advice, and indeed much food packaging in Britain states how the contents will
constitute
part of your five-a-day.
However, a study of 500,000 Europeans from 10 different countries
refute
s the commonly-believed suggestion that up to 50% of cancers could be prevented by increasing the public's consumption of fruit and vegetables.
Instead the study, which is led by researchers from a well-respected New York medical school, estimates that only 2.5% of cancers could be