Vegetables and greens are very good for your health. If you already include them in your daily diet, congratulations. If not yet, it’s good to start soon.
The bad news is that, according to a recent large study, eating a lot of vegetables may not reduce your risk of having a heart attack or stroke.
According to researchers, factors such as what makes up the rest of our diet, how much we exercise, and where and how we live can have a bigger impact.
They point out, however, that a balanced diet helps reduce the occurrence of many diseases, including some types of cancer.
Eating at least five servings of fruit and vegetables every day is a recommendation made by experts in the health sector, including the British public health system, the NHS.
Observation for 12 years
The new research, from the universities of Oxford and Bristol in England and the Chinese University of Hong Kong (China), asked 400,000 people participating in the UK Biobank study to answer questions about their diets, including how much vegetables and vegetables, cooked or raw, which they ate daily.
On average, people said they ate two spoonfuls of raw vegetables and three of cooked vegetables, for a total of five a day. The health of these people — and any heart problems that led to hospital treatment or death — were then monitored for the next 12 years.
Although the risk of dying from cardiovascular disease was about 15% lower for those who ate the most vegetables — particularly those who ate the most raw vegetables — compared with those who ate the least, the researchers said this could be explained by other factors.
Such factors included lifestyle – for example, whether they smoked and the amount of alcohol they drank – as well as the type of work they did, their income level and general diet.
As a result, the researchers said their study found no evidence of “a protective effect of vegetable intake” on how often heart or circulatory problems occurred.
Ben Lacey, a doctor at the University of Oxford, said: “This is an important study with implications for understanding the diet-related causes of cardiovascular disease (CVD).”
not everyone agrees
The results of the new study raised questions from other experts, who questioned its validity. Professor Naveed Sattar, from the field of metabolic medicine at the University of Glasgow (Scotland), said there was “a good deal of evidence from experiments” that eating fiber-rich foods such as vegetables “can help reduce weight and improve levels of of risk factors known to cause heart disease”.
Sattar said the findings of the new study are up for debate and should not change the widely circulated advice for everyone to eat at least five servings of fruits and vegetables a day.
“Many who live in the UK fall far short of this, regrettably, and more needs to be done to encourage better vegetable intake,” he said. “In fact, I suspect we may have underestimated the importance of a healthy diet on health and disease in general.”
Other experts have said that measuring how much and what types of food people consume over many years in order to study the effect on the risk of developing disease can be misleading.
“Unfortunately, one has to cast doubt on the reliability of the results from the use of simple questions, expecting users to express an average intake value”, said Professor Janet Cade, from the University of Leeds (England).
The study, released by the scientific journal Frontiers in Nutrition, says people who eat lots of raw vegetables may have a lower risk of heart disease because cooking vegetables removes important nutrients such as vitamin C.
Oils and fat used in food preparation can also increase your intake of sodium and fat, which are known risk factors for heart problems.
People with a diet rich in vegetables and greens may be eating fewer calories and fat, while consuming more vitamins and antioxidants, which can prevent cell damage.
Why eat vegetables and greens?
According to guidance given by the British NHS, fruits and vegetables are a good source of vitamins such as folic acid and minerals such as potassium.
They also contain fiber, which can help keep the digestive tract healthy, preventing digestive problems and reducing the risk of bowel cancer.
Fruits and vegetables, according to the NHS, can also help reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke and other cancers.
They make for a balanced, healthy diet and are generally low in fat and calories — as long as you don’t fry them or cook them in too much oil.
Chad-98Weaver, a distinguished author at NewsBulletin247, excels in the craft of article writing. With a keen eye for detail and a penchant for storytelling, Chad delivers informative and engaging content that resonates with readers across various subjects. His contributions are a testament to his dedication and expertise in the field of journalism.
