Eat fruits & veggies daily to cut death risk

Your five-a-day might not be enough, with experts claiming we should be eating seven daily portions of fruits and vegetables.

A new study at University College London (UCL) has suggested eating just a couple more helpings can reduce the risk of dying of cancer by 25 per cent.

The researchers looked at the eating habits of 65,000 people in England between 2001 and 2012, and discovered that seven or more helpings a day can reduce the overall risk of death by 42 per cent, compared to those who only eat one whole portion.

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. It’s ideal to substitute your 4 pm vada pav with carrots or other vegetables. However, if you fancy something sweeter, a banana or any fruit will also do you good.

The study also found that canned and frozen fruit actually seemed to increase the risk of death, while they didn’t notice any significant benefit from drinking fruit juice. Most canned fruit contains high sugar levels and cheaper varieties are packed in syrup rather than fruit juice. The negative health impacts of the sugar may well outweigh any benefits.

The British Frozen Food Federation (BFFF) claimed that the survey “unfairly” classed frozen and canned together in one category and that frozen fruit is “equivalent” to fresh fruit.