Five-a-Day 'No Benefit'每日五份没效果

One of the most commonly-held beliefs regarding health and nutrition in the UK has been found to be untrue, according to a new scientific study.

For many years British people have been recommended to eat at least 'five-a-day' – that is five items of fruit or vegetables every day in order to improve their health and reduce the likelihood of illness, in particular cancer.

The recommendation was first put forward in 1990 by the World Health Organization which said that the 'five-a-day' diet could prevent cancer and other chronic diseases.

Since then the advice has been a mainstay of public health policies in many developed countries, such as the UK, where the population eat a high proportion of junk food.

Many health campaigns have promoted the advice, and indeed much food packaging in Britain states how the contents will constitute part of your five-a-day.

However, a study of 500,000 Europeans from 10 different countries refutes the commonly-believed suggestion that up to 50% of cancers could be prevented by increasing the public's consumption of fruit and vegetables.

Instead the study, which is led by researchers from a well-respected New York medical school, estimates that only 2.5% of cancers could be averted by eating more fruit and veg.

It seems that the key to avoiding cancers is to have an overallhealthy lifestyle which includes not smoking or drinking a lot of alcohol, taking exercise and avoiding obesity.

But medical charities have spoken out to remind people that diet is an important factor in staying healthy, and that even a 2.5% reduction in cancers is still a positive step.

Cancer Research UK said: "It's still a good idea to eat your five-a-day but remember that fruits and vegetables are pieces in a much larger lifestylejigsaw."

• scientific [,saiən´tifik]   a.科学(上)的   (初中英语单词)
• illness [´ilnis]   n.生病，不健康，疾病   (初中英语单词)
• cancer [´kænsə]   n.癌；毒瘤   (初中英语单词)
• proportion [prə´pɔ:ʃən]   n.比率 vt.使成比例   (初中英语单词)
• contents [´kɔ:ntents]   n.容纳物；要旨   (初中英语单词)
• constitute [´kɔnstitju:t]   vt.组成；构成；指定   (初中英语单词)
• suggestion [sə´dʒestʃən]   n.建议，提议；暗示   (初中英语单词)
• medical [´medikəl]   a.医学的；医疗的   (初中英语单词)
• healthy [´helθi]   a.健康的   (初中英语单词)
• alcohol [´ælkəhɔl]   n.酒精；醇   (初中英语单词)
• spoken [´spəukən]   speak的过去分词   (初中英语单词)
• remind [ri´maind]   vt.提醒；使记(想)起   (初中英语单词)
• factor [´fæktə]   n.因素；原动力；要素   (初中英语单词)
• reduction [ri´dʌkʃən]   n.减少；缩小；降低   (初中英语单词)
• research [ri´sə:tʃ]   n.&vi.调查；探究；研究   (初中英语单词)
• regarding [ri´gɑ:diŋ]   prep.关于   (高中英语单词)
• recommendation [,rekəmen´deiʃən]   n.推荐；劝告   (高中英语单词)
• consumption [kən´sʌmpʃən]   n.消耗；结核病   (高中英语单词)
• positive [´pɔzətiv]   a.确定的   (高中英语单词)
• nutrition [nju:´triʃən]   n.营养(物)；食物   (英语六级单词)
• untrue [ʌn´tru:]   a.不真(忠)实的   (英语六级单词)
• likelihood [´laiklihud]   n.可能，相似性   (英语六级单词)
• chronic [´krɔnik]   a.慢性的；剧烈的   (英语六级单词)
• taking [´teikiŋ]   a.迷人的 n.捕获物   (英语六级单词)