Adhering To Dietary Recommendations Would Save 33,000 Lives In The U.K. Annually

A British study that analyzed national health data using a computer model found that if people ate five portions of fruit and vegetables a day while limiting dietary salt and sugar intake to recommended levels, 33,000 deaths could be prevented or delayed each year. The computer model linked consumption of food components with biological risk factors (blood pressure, serum cholesterol and obesity) and subsequent mortality from coronary heart disease, stroke and cancer using data for the years 2005 to 2007 for all four U.K. countries. Eating five servings of fruit and vegetables a day would prevent 7,000 deaths a year from coronary heart disease and almost 5,000 from cancer. Sticking to the recommendations on dietary fiber would save 4,000 lives, fats 7,000 and salt 7,500.