New Study Shows Fruits and Vegetables Have Little Effect on Cancer Prevention

In 1991, The National Cancer Institute implemented a guideline to reduce the risk of cancer. It called for five servings of fruits and vegetables a day. It was widely thought and accepted that by increasing your daily intake of fruits and vegetables, the average person could reduce their risk of cancer by up to 50%

A new study published by the European Prospective Investigation Into Cancer and Nutrition, or EPIC, shows that this is not exactly the case. The study evaluated 492,000 people from 10 different countries. The Western Europeans that were poled were questioned about nutrition, smoking, alcohol consumption, and other aspects of their lives. The results of the study showed that after 9 years, with a median fruit and vegetable intake of 335 grams a day, 30,000 of the people studied were diagnosed with some form of cancer. What this means is that by increasing your intake of flavanoid-rich fruits and vegetables by 200 mg a day, you are only decreasing your risk of cancer by about 3%.

How can it be that doctors and scientists who extolled the virtues of a diet full of fruits and vegetables and claimed that they were extremely effective in the prevention of cancer were wrong?

The truth is, that by eating more fruits and vegetables, you are consuming more nutritious calories as opposed to high fat, empty calories. This reduces the chance that you will become obesity. Obesity is one of the many risk factors for cancer, so if you maintain a healthy weight by the consumption of fruits and vegetables, in a very round-about way, it does reduce your risk of cancer. Other factors do play into a person getting cancer. Smoking, sunburns, certain workplaces, as well as a genetic predisposition can all cause cancer.

Don't throw out your produce just yet. While the effects of fruits and vegetables on cancer has been found to be minimal, these foods do go a very long way in preventing cardiovascular disease. The Harvard School of Public Health found that people who consumed five or more servings of fruits and vegetables a day had almost a 30% lower occurrence of cardiovascular related diseases.

While the new study about the effectiveness of fruits and vegetables in the prevention of cancer may be disappointing, other studies are under way. Certain fruits and vegetables may still yet reduce the occurrence of some types of cancer. Dr. Zuo-Feng Zhang is looking into fruits, vegetables, as well as green and black teas in the prevention of lung cancers in smokers.

The bottom line is that while fruits and vegetables have only a minimal effect on cancer, they still are a very important part of a healthy, nutritionally balanced diet.

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