"Eating "10 a day" of fruit & veg could prevent 7.8m deaths a year"
The study showed that eating 800 grams of fruit and vegetables a day can reduce a person's chance of having a stroke by a third, while the risk of heart disease can drop by around 24 per cent and could could prevent around 7.8 million premature deaths each year.
Lower risks of cancer were linked to eating, green veg, yellow veg (eg peppers) and cruciferous vegetables. Lower risks of heart disease and strokes were shown to be linked to eating apples, pears, citrus, fruits, salads, green leafy vegetables and cruciferous veg.
The team found that although even the recommended five portions of fruit and vegetables a day reduced disease risk, the greatest benefit came from eating 10 portions compared to people who ate none at all.
Lead author Dr Dagfinn Aune, from the School of Public Health at Imperial, said: "We wanted to investigate how much fruit and vegetables you need to eat to gain the maximum protection against disease, and premature death.
"Our results suggest that although five portions of fruit and vegetables is good, 10 a day is even better. "Fruit and vegetables have been shown to reduce cholesterol levels, blood pressure, and to boost the health of our blood vessels and immune system.
"This may be due to the complex network of nutrients they hold. For instance they contain many antioxidants, which may reduce DNA damage, and lead to a reduction in cancer risk.
"It is clear from this work that a high intake of fruit and vegetables holds tremendous health benefits, and we should try to increase their intake in our diet."
source: telegraph.co.uk, bbc.com, medicalxpress.com