For years the advice has been clear: Eating five portions a day of fruit and vegetables is the key to a healthy life. But five may no longer be enough. A study has found that to get
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defense against heart disease, you need to eat at least eight daily servings of fresh food. The government"s five-a-day advice has its
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in World Health Organization guidelines to include 14 ounces of vegetables in a daily diet. But there have been doubts over whether eating more than this level of fruit and vegetables meant even greater health
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. Now the new study suggests every extra portion provides added protection.
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, those in the highest category—eating eight or more a day—have a 22 percent lower chance of dying from heart disease than those who
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three portions, the UK average. A "portion"
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just under three ounces, equal to a small banana, a medium apple or a small carrot. The findings come from an ongoing European
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diet and health, looking at 300000 people in eight countries.
Dr. Francesca Crowe of Oxford University is working on the project. She said that although
ischemic
(缺血性的) heart disease (IHD.—the most common
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—was less likely in those who ate lots of vegetables, it could be explained by the probably healthier lifestyles.
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these things, the study specifically showed a reduced risk of dying from IHD of around four percent for each
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portion of fruit and vegetables eaten above the lowest category, which was those who ate two or fewer portions.