The season for fresh, aromatic, juicy and full of vitamins and minerals fruit and vegetables is in full swing! Of course every month offers us seasonal and wholesome fruit and vegetables, but spring and summer bring us a large variety and richness of colourful ‘healthiness’! You can easily become a rabbit and munch on raw fruit and veg all the time! So how much of this veg and fruit should we be really eating? And what do we gain from it?
At the beginning of this year, an excellent piece of research was published that summarised our hitherto knowledge on the health benefits of vegetables and fruit. The authors have collected results from 142 publications from all around the world. Each of the individually analyses encompassed from 227 thousands to over 2 million of participants. You can therefore conclude that this research brings us some really hard evidence. And we cannot talk about a coincidence here!
Let us review health benefits of raw fruit and vegetables:
- Fiber that can be found in vegetables and fruits reduces the level of cholesterol in blood, lowers blood pressure, reduces inflammation, as well as improves health of blood vessels and strengthens immunity;
- Antioxidants contained in vegetables and fruit neutralise reactive oxygen compounds and prevent damage to our DNA;
- Glucosinolates contained in cabbage vegetables initiate the detox processes;
- Consumption of fruit and vegetables helps controlling levels of steroid hormone and supports regulation of hormone metabolism;
- Fruit and vegetables have a positive effect on the bacterial flora of our intestines, which in turn is responsible for our health and the quality of functioning of our body;
- It is worth emphasising that the consumption of fruit and vegetables has an indirect impact on reducing the risk of chronic diseases by removing the unhealthy foods full of saturated fatty acids, trans fats, salts or simple sugars from our diet.
The authors of the research have focussed however on the prevention of early death and on the diseases causing most mortality. Increasing your daily consumption of vegetables and fruit by 200g reduces the risk of:
- Coronary disease by 8 – 16% (16% and 24%);
- Stroke by 13 – 18% (28% and 33%);
- Cardiovascular diseases by 8 – 13% (22% and 28%);
- Cancers by 3 – 4% (13% and 14%);
- Premature death by 10 -15% (27% and 31%).
In brackets, I have indicated the reduction of each specific disease with the consumption of 600g and 800g of vegetables and fruit comparing it to 0 – 40g / daily. 600g corresponds to 7.5 portions of vegetables and fruit, whilst 800g is 10 portions.
The analysis also included individual fruits and vegetables. Thanks to this, we learn that these specific fruit and vegetables bring the greatest benefits in the prevention of the following diseases:
- Coronary disease: apples, pears, citrus fruit, green leafy vegetables, tomatoes, vegetables and fruit rich in beta-carotene and vegetables and fruit rich in vitamin C;
- Stroke: apples, pears, citrus fruit, bulb vegetables, green leafy vegetables, marinated vegetables and vegetables and fruit rich in vitamin C;
- Cardiovascular diseases: apples, pears, citrus fruit, green leafy vegetables, carrots, vegetables that are not cabbage vegetables;
- Cancers: cabbage vegetables, green-yellow vegetables;
- Premature death: apples, pears, berry fruit, citrus fruit, cabbage vegetables, potatoes, green leafy vegetables, cooked vegetables, raw vegetables.
Conclusions? So currently WHO recommends that our diet should be composed of 400g of daily intake of vegetables and fruit, whilst the greatest benefits are experienced when we munch on 600g (7.5 portions) or even 800g (10 portions). So it seems that the time has finally come to modify the popular slogan of ‘5 a day’…
