Healthy diet means 10 portions of fruit and vegetables per day, not five

A healthy diet should include 10 portions of fruit and vegetables a day, doubling the five-a-day official advice, health experts have said.

The research, which involved a 12-year study, also found that vegetables were four times healthier than fruit.

The study, by University College London, found that eating large quantities of fruit and vegetables significantly lowered the risk of premature death. People who ate at least seven portions of fruit and vegetables each day were 42 per cent less likely to die from any cause over the course of the study.

The researchers also discovered that canned and frozen fruit increased the risk of dying by 17 per cent, and fruit juice was found to have no significant benefit.

The findings suggest that the five-a-day recommendation, suggested by the World Health Organisation and backed by the Government and NHS, is not adequate — although only 30 per cent of people even manage to eat that amount.
Experts said that even seven-a-day was not enough and that 10 would be the optimum number, as the protective effect continued to increase with higher consumption.
The study’s lead author, Dr Oyinlola Oyebode of UCL’s department of epidemiology and public health, said: “The clear message here is that the more fruit and vegetables you eat, the less likely you are to die at any age. My advice would be however much you are eating now, eat more.”
Health experts called on the Government to subsidise the cost of fruit and vegetables, which they suggested could be paid for by taxing sugary foods.
The five-a-day guidelines were based on World Health Organisation recommendations issued in 1990, which advised consuming 400g of fruit and vegetables each day to lower the risk of heart disease, stroke, type-two diabetes and obesity.
Prof Simon Capewell, of the department of public health at the University of Liverpool, said the advice should be 10 portions a day. “Humans are designed to be omnivorous: a handful of nuts, seeds, fruit and the occasional antelope. We’re not meant to be eating junk food.”
Researchers examined the eating habits of 65,000 people in England between 2001 and 2013.
They found that seven helpings a day of fruit or vegetables could reduce a person’s overall risk of premature death by 42 per cent when compared with people who ate just one whole portion.
People who ate between five and seven portions a day had a 36 per cent reduced risk of death, those who ate three to five portions had a 29 per cent decreased risk and those who ate one to three helpings had a 14 per cent reduced risk.
Those with the highest intakes were also 25 per cent less likely to die from cancer and 31 per cent less likely to die from heart disease.
“We need to urgently examine seriously the proposal to increase recommended intake to seven a day,” said Naveed Sattar, professor of metabolic medicine at the University of Glasgow. “To implement a seven-a-day message would be really challenging for many in society and would require governmental support such as subsidising the cost of fruit and vegetables, perhaps by taxing sugar-rich foods.”
The study also found that vegetables were far more beneficial than fruit. Each portion of vegetables lowered the risk of death by 16 per cent. However, each piece of fruit only lowered the chance of death by 4 per cent.
The authors said the findings lent support to the Australian government’s advice of “two plus five” a day, which encourages people to eat two helpings of fruit and five of vegetables. Dr Alison Tedstone, Director of Diet and Obesity/Chief Nutritionist from Public Health England said: “Our focus remains on increasing overall consumption of fruit and vegetables to meet current recommendations.”
The study was published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

Synthetic vitamins are dangerous

Dietary supplements containing vitamin A, E and beta-carotene increase mortality significantly, new research shows. A medical consultant says healthy people shouldn’t take them.

Ordinary dietary supplements that contain vitamin A, E or beta-carotene increase mortality, a new study shows. (Photo: Colourbox).

Antioxidants, dietary supplements, vitamin pills – many people take them every day in the hope that they are good for their health.
But a new Danish study of all relevant trials carried out around the world shows that taking antioxidants in the form of vitamin A, E and beta-carotene is a risky business for us.
These antioxidants increase mortality – the risk of sudden death is higher for people who take these dietary supplements than for those who do not.
The results of this study have just been published in the scientific journal Cochrane Library.

The authorities and the chemists should take note of the new results and stop selling these pills as soon as possible.

Christian Gluud

“Our new study shows that these three antioxidants increase mortality by about four percent,” says Christian Gluud MD, a medical consultant and the head of the clinical research-based Copenhagen Trial Unit at the Copenhagen University Hospital, who led the study.
“So taking these pills is risky, and we would like to dissuade people who are healthy and who have a balanced diet from taking them.”

Disagreement over previous study

The newly published study confirms the results of a study in 2008 carried out by the same researchers.
The conclusions then were based on a statistical study of 68 randomised trials covering 232,606 people. Some were given dietary supplements in the form of antioxidants, while others were given either placebos as supplements or no supplements at all.

For the great majority of the people in the trials, the doses covered were within the recommended daily intake level. In other words, it is quite ordinary doses that give the increased mortality.

Christian Gluud

At the time, the researchers’ conclusion was the subject of a media storm – and hefty discussions in the research world, because many researchers working in the field of health, diet and supplements disagreed with the findings. The authorities chose not to intervene, and chemists and other shops are still selling dietary supplements.

Two independent studies – same mortality

The sceptics referred to studies that showed that people who take vitamin pills often have an unhealthy lifestyle because they believe that taking dietary supplements will improve their health in any case. In the sceptics’ opinion, this could explain the increased mortality among those who took the pills.
Gluud rejects this criticism:
“The higher mortality is seen in precisely these randomised trials, where dietary supplements were given to one group, while the other group got a placebo,” he says. “Neither of the groups knew whether they got a dietary supplement or a placebo. Therefore you can expect with confidence that any changes in lifestyle would be the same in the two groups.”

Facts

The researchers tested both single vitamins and multivitamins – and they found excess mortality in both cases.
Dietary supplements are taken by about 15 percent of the population in Europe and North America.
The new study was carried out in 2011 and is based on eleven new trials involving 64,157 other people.
The analyses show that the antioxidants increase mortality significantly with a comparative risk increase of four percent – the same result as in the earlier study.
“We found precisely the same effects as we did in the previous study, so now we feel even more confident about our conclusion,” says Gluud.

May accelerate the ageing processes

As yet, the researchers do not know the cause of the increased mortality, but they have some theories.

Facts

An antioxidant is a naturally occurring or synthetically produced substance that prevents or weakens oxidation that damages or destroys cells.
An antioxidant can be an enzyme or another organic molecule that counteracts the damaging effects of oxygen in living tissue.
The word is mainly applied to the molecules that inhibit the production of ‘free radicals’ – molecules with unpaired electrons.
“No new causes of death have been observed among those who died,” he says. “Our best explanation is therefore that these antioxidants have a toxic effect that accelerates normal ageing processes such as arteriosclerosis and cancer.”
Gluud is concerned that chemists and other shops are still selling the vitamin pills.
“The authorities and the chemists should take note of the new results and stop selling these pills as soon as possible,” he says.
Gluud emphasises that the findings do not apply only to dietary supplements containing vitamin A, E or beta-carotene in high doses that exceed the recommended daily intake.
“For the great majority of the people in the trials, the doses covered were within the recommended daily intake level,” he says. “In other words, it is quite ordinary doses that give the increased mortality.”

Mediterranean diet: A heart-healthy eating plan

The heart-healthy Mediterranean is a healthy eating plan based on typical foods and recipes of Mediterranean-style cooking. Here's how to adopt the Mediterranean diet. By Mayo Clinic Staff

If you're looking for a heart-healthy eating plan, the Mediterranean diet might be right for you. The Mediterranean diet incorporates the basics of healthy eating — plus a splash of flavorful olive oil and perhaps even a glass of red wine — among other components characterizing the traditional cooking style of countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea.
Most healthy diets include fruits, vegetables, fish and whole grains, and limit unhealthy fats. While these parts of a healthy diet remain tried-and-true, subtle variations or differences in proportions of certain foods may make a difference in your risk of heart disease.

Benefits of the Mediterranean diet

Research has shown that the traditional Mediterranean diet reduces the risk of heart disease. In fact, an analysis of more than 1.5 million healthy adults demonstrated that following a Mediterranean diet was associated with a reduced risk of death from heart disease and cancer, as well as a reduced incidence of Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases.
The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends the Mediterranean diet as an eating plan that can help promote health and prevent disease. And the Mediterranean diet is one your whole family can follow for good health.

Key components of the Mediterranean diet

The Mediterranean diet emphasizes:

• Eating primarily plant-based foods, such as fruits and vegetables, whole grains, legumes and nuts
• Replacing butter with healthy fats, such as olive oil
• Using herbs and spices instead of salt to flavor foods
• Limiting red meat to no more than a few times a month
• Eating fish and poultry at least twice a week
• Drinking red wine in moderation (optional)

The diet also recognizes the importance of being physically active, and enjoying meals with family and friends.

Focus on fruits, vegetables, nuts and grains

The Mediterranean diet traditionally includes fruits, vegetables and grains. For example, residents of Greece average six or more servings a day of antioxidant-rich fruits and vegetables.
Grains in the Mediterranean region are typically whole grain and usually contain very few unhealthy trans fats, and bread is an important part of the diet. However, throughout the Mediterranean region, bread is eaten plain or dipped in olive oil — not eaten with butter or margarine, which contains saturated or trans fats.
Nuts are another part of a healthy Mediterranean diet. Nuts are high in fat, but most of the fat is healthy. Because nuts are high in calories, they should not be eaten in large amounts — generally no more than a handful a day. For the best nutrition, avoid candied or honey-roasted and heavily salted nuts.

Eating red meat raises 'substantially' risk of cancer or heart disease death

Data collected over 28 years reveal striking link – and show that consuming fish or poultry instead contributes to a longer life

Regularly eating red meat increases significantly risk of death from heart disease and cancer, according to a study of more than 120,000 people carried out over 28 years.
The findings show that each extra daily serving of processed red meat – equivalent to one hot dog or two rashers of bacon – raised mortality rate by a fifth.
Conversely, replacing red meat with fish, poultry, or plant-based protein foods contributed to a longer life. Nuts were said to reduce mortality rate by 20%, making a case for swapping roast beef for nut roast.
Data from 121,342 men and women taking part in two large US health and lifestyle investigations were analysed to produce the findings, published in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine.
The studies monitored the progress of their participants for more than 20 years and gathered information about diet.
Scientists documented 23,926 deaths, including 5,910 from heart disease and 9,364 from cancer, and there was a striking association in the data between consumption of red meat and premature death.
Each additional daily serving of unprocessed red meat, equivalent to a helping of beef, lamb or pork about the size of a deck of cards, raised the mortality rate by 13%, while processed meat increased it by 20%.
When deaths were broken down into specific causes, eating any kind of red meat increased the chances of dying from heart disease by 16% and from cancer by 10%. Processed red meat raised the risk of heart disease death by 21% and cancer death by 16%.
Senior author Professor Frank Hu, of Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, US, said: "This study provides clear evidence that regular consumption of red meat, especially processed meat, contributes substantially to premature death.
"On the other hand, choosing more healthful sources of protein in place of red meat can confer significant health benefits by reducing chronic disease morbidity [illness] and mortality." Previous research has linked red meat consumption to cancer risk.
The study found that cutting red meat out of the diet entirely led to significant benefits. Halving red meat consumption could have prevented 9.3% of deaths of men and 7.6% of women taking part in the study.
The researchers came to their conclusions after taking account of known chronic disease risk factors such as age, body weight, physical activity and family history.
The World Cancer Research Fund recommends that people avoid processed meat entirely and limit their consumption of red meat to 500g a week. Dr Rachel Thompson, the charity's deputy head of science, said: "This study strengthens the body of evidence which shows a link between red meat and chronic diseases such as cancer and heart disease.
"The study calculates that lives would be saved if people replaced red meat with healthy protein sources such as fish, poultry, nuts and legumes. We would like to see more people replacing red meat with these type of foods."
The findings were challenged by Dr Carrie Ruxton, of the Meat Advisory Panel, an expert body funded by the meat industry.
She said: "This US study looked at associations between high intakes of red meat and risk of mortality, finding a positive association between the two. However, the study was observational, not controlled, and so cannot be used to determine cause and effect."
Dr Ruxton pointed out that meat and meat products were significant sources of essential nutrients such as iron, zinc, selenium, B vitamins and vitamin D.
In the UK, red meat was "critically important" to zinc intake, contributing 32% of the total for men and 27% for women. Red meat also contributed about 17% of total dietary iron intake in the UK.
Victoria Taylor, a dietitian at the British Heart Foundation, said: "This study links red meat to deaths from CVD [cardiovascular disease] and cancer.
"Red meat can still be eaten as part of a balanced diet, but go for the leaner cuts and use healthier cooking methods such as grilling. If you eat processed meats like bacon, ham, sausages or burgers several times a week, add variation to your diet by substituting these for other protein sources such as fish, poultry, beans or lentils."
• This article was amended on Tuesday 13 March. The original stated that an extra serving of red meat raised mortality rate by a fifth without specifying frequency of consumption. This has been corrected.

Red and processed meat 'increases colorectal cancer risk'

People with a common genetic variant who consume red or processed meat may increase their risk of colorectal cancer. This is according to a study presented at the annual American Society of Human Genetics 2013 meeting.
Furthermore, the US researchers say they also found another specific genetic variant that suggests eating more fruit, vegetables and fiber may lower the risk of colorectal cancer.
To reach their findings, the researchers analyzed 9,287 patients suffering from colorectal cancer alongside a control group of 9,117 healthy individuals.
They also analyzed 2.7 million genetic sequences to determine whether there was a link between consumption of red and processed meat and colorectal cancer.
The study shows that individuals with the genetic variant rs4143094 - a variant that affects 1 in 3 people - demonstrate a significantly increased risk of colorectal cancer linked to the consumption of red and processed meat.
The researchers explain that this genetic variant is located on the same chromosome 10 region that has a transcription factor gene called GATA3 - a gene that has previously been linked to many forms of cancer.
The transcription factor encoded by this gene usually plays a part in the immune system, say the researchers.
Speculating on the link with processed meat, the researchers say that when the body digests it, this may trigger an "immunological or inflammatory" response. But if the GATA3 gene region consists of a genetic variant, it is possible it could encode a dysregulated transcription factor, making it hard to overthrow the response.
However, Jane Figuerido, assistant professor of preventive medicine at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California, notes that their findings do not mean people without this genetic variant should eat large amounts of red or processed meat.
She adds:

"People with the genetic variant allele have an even higher increased risk of colorectal cancer if they consume high levels of processed meat, but the baseline risk associated with meat is already pretty bad."

Red meat has indeed developed a reputation for increasing health risks. Earlier this year Medical News Today reported on a study showing that consuming red meat may raise the risk of Alzheimer's disease, while another study linked red meat to increased risk of type 2 diabetes.
But it is not all bad news. The researchers uncovered a positive genetic variant from the study - rs1269486 - on chromosome 8. Results showed that people with this variant who eat more fruit and vegetables may reduce their risk of colorectal cancer.

Findings could lead to better prevention strategies

The researchers note that the findings from this study could lead to better prevention approaches for colorectal cancer based on a person's genetic variant.
Prof. Figuerido says:

"Colorectal cancer is a disease that is strongly influenced by certain types of diets.
We're showing the biological underpinnings of these correlations, and understand whether genetic variation may make some people more or less susceptible to certain carcinogens in food, which may have future important implications for prevention and population health."

The researchers emphasize that further research is needed to determine the specific mechanism in which genes regulate the intake of certain foods and the impact for colorectal cancer risk.

Diets high in meat, eggs and dairy could be as harmful to health as smoking

A diet rich in meat, eggs, milk and cheese could be as harmful to health as smoking, according to a controversial study into the impact of protein consumption on longevity.
High levels of dietary animal protein in people under 65 years of age was linked to a fourfold increase in their risk of death from cancer or diabetes, and almost double the risk of dying from any cause over an 18-year period, researchers found. However, nutrition experts have cautioned that it's too early to draw firm conclusions from the research.
The overall harmful effects seen in the study were almost completely wiped out when the protein came from plant sources, such as beans and legumes, though cancer risk was still three times as high in middle-aged people who ate a protein-rich diet, compared with those on a low-protein diet.
But whereas middle-aged people who consumed a lot of animal protein tended to die younger from cancer, diabetes and other diseases, the same diet seemed to protect people's health in old age.
The findings emerged from a study of 6,381 people aged 50 and over who took part in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) which tracks a representative group of adults and children in the US.
The study throws doubt on the long-term health effects of the popular Atkins and Paleo diets that are rich in protein. Instead, it suggests people should eat a low-protein diet until old age when they start to lose weight and become frail, and then boost the body's protein intake to stay healthy. In the over-65s, a high-protein diet cut the risk of death from any cause by 28%, and reduced cancer deaths by 60%, according to details of the study published in the journal Cell Metabolism.
Valter Longo, director of the Longevity Institute at the University of Southern California, said that on the basis of the study and previous work, people should restrict themselves to no more than 0.8g of protein a day for every kilogram of body weight, equivalent to 48g for a 60kg person, and 64g for an 80kg person.
"People need to switch to a diet where only around nine or ten percent of their calories come from protein, and the ideal sources are plant-based," Longo told the Guardian. "We are not saying go and do some crazy diet we came up with. If we are wrong, there is no harm done, but if we are right you are looking at an incredible effect that in general is about as bad as smoking."
"Spend a couple of months looking at the labels on your food. There is a little bit of protein everywhere. If you eat breakfast, you might get 4g protein, but a piece of chicken for lunch may have 50g protein," said Longo, who skips lunch to control his calorie and protein intake.
People who took part in the study consumed an average of 1,823 calories a day, with 51% coming from carbohydrates, 33% from fat, and 16% from protein, of which two thirds was animal protein. Longo divided them into three groups. The high-protein group got 20% or more of their calories from protein, the moderate group got 10 to 19% of their calories from protein, and the low group got less than 10% of calories from protein.
Teasing out the health effects of individual nutrients is notoriously difficult. The apparently harmful effects of a high-protein diet might be down to one or more other substances in meat, or driven by lifestyle factors that are more common in regular red meat eaters versus vegetarians. Other factors can skew results too: a person on the study who got ill might have gone off their food, and seen a proportional rise in the amount of calories they get from protein. In that case, it would be the illness driving the diet, not the other way round.
"I would urge general caution over observational studies, and particularly when looking at diet, given the difficulties of disentangling one nutrient or dietary component from another. You can get an association that might have some causal linkage or might not," said Peter Emery, head of nutrition and dietetics at King's College London.
Gunter Kuhnle, a food nutrition scientist at Reading University, said it was wrong "and potentially even dangerous" to compare the effects of smoking with the effect of meat and cheese as the study does.

"Sending out [press] statements such as this can damage the effectiveness of important public health messages. They can help to prevent sound health advice from getting through to the general public. The smoker thinks: 'why bother quitting smoking if my cheese and ham sandwich is just as bad for me?'"
Heather Ohly at the European Centre for Environment and Human Health in Exeter said: "Smoking has been proven to be entirely bad for us, whereas meat and cheese can be consumed in moderation as part of a healthy diet, contributing to recommended intakes of many important nutrients."
Most people in Britain eat more protein than they need. The British Dietetic Association recommends a daily intake of 45g and 55g of protein for the average woman and man respectively. But according to the British Nutrition Foundation the average protein intake per day is 88g and 64g for men and women.
In a series of follow-up experiments, Longo looked at what might lie behind the apparently damaging effects of a high-protein diet on health in middle age. Blood tests on people in the study showed that levels of a growth hormone called IGF-1 rose and fell in line with protein intake. For those on a high protein diet, rises in IGF-1 steadily increased their cancer risk. Further tests on mice found that a high-protein diet led to more cancer and larger tumours than a low-protein diet.

Diet High in Meat Proteins Raises Cancer Risk for Middle-Aged People

For people aged 50 to 65, a high-protein diet increased the risk of cancer fourfold, comparable to the risk associated with smoking

Mar 4, 2014 |By Bahar Gholipour and LiveScience

Sean Dreilinger, Flickr Creative Commons

People who eat a high-protein diet during middle age are more likely to die of cancer than those who eat less protein, a new study finds.
However, for people older than 65, a moderate protein intake may actually be beneficial, and protect against frailty, the researchers said.
The researchers looked at more than 6,000 people ages 50 and older, and followed them for 18 years. They found that people ages 50 to 65 who ate a diet rich in animal proteins during middle age were more than four times as likely to die of cancer during the study period than those who ate a low-protein diet, according to the study published today (March 4) in the journal Cell Metabolism.
"Popular diets in many cases have high proteins and low sugars. They may make you lose some weight, but that's not a good diet to increase life span," said study researcher Valter Longo, professor of biology at the University of Southern California (USC) and director of the USC Longevity Institute.
The risks of a high-protein diet are even comparable to smoking, the researchers said. People who smoke are four times more likely to die of cancer compared with nonsmokers, Longo said.
"Of course we cannot be sure of the reasons, but we have a pretty good idea, based on this study and also previous studies, as to why this is happening," Longo said.
The study also found that middle-age people who ate foods rich in animal proteins — including meat, milk and cheese — were 75 percent more likely to die of any cause than those who ate a low-protein diet within the study period. [5 Diets That Fight Diseases]
The researchers defined a "high-protein" diet as deriving at least 20 percent of daily calories from protein, a "moderate" protein diet as deriving 10 to 19 percent of calories from protein, and a "low-protein" diet as less than 10 percent of calories from protein.
However, what's bad for people at one age may be healthy at another. In the study, people older than 65 were less likely to die of cancer or other causes if they consumed more protein.
"So, not all people benefit from low protein. Older people actually seem to benefit from moderate intake of protein," Longo said. Having enough protein in the diet may be important for older people to maintain a healthy weight and protect against frailty, the researchers said.
The link between high-protein intake and risk of cancer almost vanished when the researchers considered participants whose protein mainly came from plants, such as beans.
This may be because proteins in plants have a different composition, and don't stimulate growth hormones as efficiently as meat proteins, Longo said.
The study suggests that the Mediterranean diet, which is low in animal protein and high in carbohydrates, may be best for extending life span, Longo said.
The researchers said they recommend eating about 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight every day in middle age. For example, a 130-pound person should eat about 45 to 50 grams of protein a day, with a preference for plant proteins, the researchers said.
To investigate why there may be a link between protein consumption and cancer, the researchers looked at mice that were injected with mouse skin cancer cells. They showed that a high amount of protein in the mouse diet promoted the tumor's survival and growth by increasing the levels of a growth hormone, called IGF-1.
The researchers also measured the levels of IGF-1 for 2,000 people, randomly selected among those in their study, and found that for every 10 nanograms per milliliter increase in IGF-1, those on a high-protein diet were 9 percent more likely to die of cancer than those on a low-protein diet.
"When you have a lot of protein, these growth factors go up, and we've shown that they help normal cells become cancer-like cells, and then they help the cells grow," Longo said.