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 recommended 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 promoted 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 refutes 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 averted by eating more fruit and veg.
It seems that the key to avoiding cancers is to have an overall healthy lifestyle which includes not smoking or drinking a lot of alcohol, taking exercise and avoiding obesity.
But medical charities have spoken out to remind people that diet is an important factor in staying healthy, and that even a 2.5% reduction in cancers is still a positive step.
Cancer Research UK said: "It's still a good idea to eat your five-a-day but remember that fruits and vegetables are pieces in a much larger lifestyle jigsaw."
Glossary 词汇表
nutrition
营养
scientific study
科学研究
recommended
推荐
reduce the likelihood
减少事情发生的可能性
cancer
癌症
World Health Organization
国际卫生组织
chronic diseases
慢性病 #p#副标题#e#
mainstay
支柱,主体
public health policies
公共健康政策
junk food
垃圾食品
health campaigns
卫生运动
food packaging
食品包装
contents
内容,包含的东西
refutes
驳倒
consumption
消耗,消费
averted
避免
overall
总体上的
obesity
肥胖症
medical charities
医疗慈善机构
lifestyle jigsaw
生活方式的拼图