Fruits and Veggies Prevent Cancer? Not So Much, It Turns Out

[bijou]

Remember the government's advice to eat at least five servings of fruits and vegetables a day to lower your risk of cancer?

Well, times change.

A huge nine-year study of diet and cancer, involving nearly a half-million Europeans in 10 countries, finds only a very weak association between intake of fruits and vegetables and cancer incidence. The study is in the current issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Those who get an extra two servings of fruits and veggies a day lower their cancer risk by only four percent.

A decade or so ago, leading experts thought the five-a-day regimen would reduce overall cancer risk by as much as 50 to 70 percent.

In the 1990s scientists were so sure the approach would prevent cancer the World Health Organization and the National Cancer Institute launched the five-a-day bandwagon. ...
http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2010/04/fruits_and_veggies_prevent_can.html

[Gingersnap]

Hah! The only fruits I ever eat outside pie-format are berries/cherries and not much of them. There is no way I could ever eat the amount of breads, beans, and grains that are recommended - I'd blow up like a balloon.

I do eat vegetables but I eat them with cheese or butter and I never eat some veggie just because it's "good" for me.

Gee, what next? Could the recommendation about sucking up 8 glasses of water a day be false? Oh, wait - it is. :rolleyes:

[M21]

I think you have to wash all of the pesticides off first.

[noonwitch]

It's all a matter of balance. 3-5 servings of fruits and vegetables daily is what I thought was the general recommendation.

When I have a cold, I crave orange juice. I know that vitamin C doesn't necessarily help make the cold go away, but it makes me feel better emotionally, so I end up feeling better physically.

Pregnant women need to eat lots of vegetables and fruits, though. Eating a diet high in folic acid, which is found in leafy green vegetables, helps prevent spina bifida in babies. Eating lots of fruit helps prevent constipation, which according to most of my friends who have had children, is common during pregnancy.

[Gingersnap]

I'm pretty sure there is no real requirement for fruit. Soluble and insoluble fiber, yes. Fruit, no. :p