How important are fruit and veg in a cancer prevention diet?

by Grace
(Sheffield)

Don't listen to media reports that ' ...eating fruit and vegetables as part of a cancer prevention diet will do little to reduce your risk of developing cancer’.

The World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) today (1 Dec 2010) issued a statement confirming that eating plenty of fruit and veg is important for cancer prevention, and they stand by their 2007 report on a cancer prevention diet.


Why the confusion? It's all down to point of view, say the WCRF. The media (who like nothing better than a bad-news story) choose to focus on the fact that the overall number of cancer cases that could be prevented by eating fruit and veg is very small, whereas the WCRF believe that it's still well worthwhile for people to eat fruit and vegetables as there is evidence that they probably do reduce cancer risk.

Although it's true that fruit and veg are only linked to a few types of cancer, so the percentage of overall cancer cases that could potentially be prevented is quite small, because so many people are diagnosed with cancer each year, around 7000 cases could be prevented annually in the UK if we all ate two more portions a day.

Even if fruit and vegetables don't have a big direct effect on cancer prevention, they are still a very important part of healthy eating, and reduce the risk of obesity. Maintaining a healthy weight is a crucial part of cancer prevention, as evidence has shown that excess body fat increases the risk of six types of cancer.

Keep up with those five - or more - portions of fresh fruit and vegetables a day, and you'll not only cut your risk of some cancers but you'll have better all round health and less chance of developing a whole range of other illnesses associated with being overweight.