Eat More Fruit and Vegetables | Health | Patient UK

What are the health benefits if I eat enough fruit and vegetables?You have a lower chance of developing cardiovascular diseases due atheroma ('hardening of the arteries'). For example, heart disease, peripheral vascular disease, or a stroke.You have a lower chance of developing some cancers such as bowel and lung cancer.Fruit and vegetables also:Contain lots of fibre which helps to keep your bowels healthy. Problems such as constipation and diverticular disease are less likely to develop.Contain plenty of vitamins and minerals, which are needed to keep you healthy.Are naturally low in fat.Are filling but are low in calories. So, they are ideal to keep your weight in control.

How do fruit and vegetables prevent disease?They are rich in vitamins and minerals which keep the body healthy. They also contain chemicals called antioxidants, such as carotene, which are thought to protect against damaging chemicals that get into the body. However, the exact way in which they prevent disease is not fully understood.

One portion of fruit or vegetables is roughly equivalent to:one large fruit such as an apple, pear, banana, orange, or a large slice of melon, ortwo smaller fruits such as plums, kiwis, satsumas, clementines, etc, orone cup of small fruits such as grapes, strawberries, raspberries, cherries, etc, ortwo large tablespoons of fruit salad, stewed or canned fruit, orone tablespoon of dried fruit, orone glass of fresh fruit juice (150 ml), ora normal portion of any vegetable (about two tablespoons), orone dessert bowl of salad

via www.patient.co.uk