STUDIO EUROPEO
Frutta e verdura: ne servono di più
Mangiare alimenti vegetali otto volte al giorno abbassa
il rischio di morire per malattie cardiovascolari
(Ansa)
MILANO - Per proteggere il cuore non bastano più le cinque porzioni giornaliere di frutta e verdura suggerite nel 2003 dall’Organizzazione Mondiale della Sanità, ora la richiesta è salita a otto. Secondo quanto pubblicato sull'European Heart Journal chi mangia otto volte al giorno frutta e verdura ha il 22 per cento di probabilità in meno di morire per malattie di cuore e vasi rispetto a chi ne consuma solo tre porzioni nell’arco 24 hours.
STUDY - This study is a collaborative effort between several European institutions coordinated by Francesca Crowe, a researcher at the University of Oxford. In particular, the researchers led by Crowe analyzed data from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC), a project funded by the European Community which aims to assess the relationships between diet, lifestyle, environmental factors and the development of tumors and other chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease. The information collected from 1992 to 2000 relate to dietary habits and health of more than 300 thousand people between 40 and 85 years from eight European countries, including in Italy. From data has shown that eating plant foods at least eight times a day would reduce by nearly one quarter the odds of dying from coronary heart disease. Moreover, according to researchers, each extra portion of fruit and vegetables, valued at 80 grams, plus or minus a small banana or a carrot, correspond 4 percentage points lower cardiovascular risk.
DIET OR ELSE? - "We must be cautious before these results - the precise Crowe -. Often those who adopt healthy eating other healthy lifestyles that may contribute, along with the consumption of fruit and vegetables and cardiovascular protection. " On the other is also true that people who eat more plant foods reduces the calories of the diet thus taking away the pounds that would lead to overweight and obesity, determined enemies of cardiovascular health and more. "If it is true that fruits and vegetables have a protective effect on the heart - says in an editorial commentary on the study Michael Marmot, director of University College London - you could have a pill with the nutrients responsible for and do not worry about the diet. But experiments by administering antioxidant vitamins did not lead to clear and definitive conclusions about their role in reducing the incidence of cancer and cardiovascular disease. " It would appear that the beneficial effect on health is not so much in individual micronutrients as something more complex and articulated. "If we succeed with further studies to discover the biological mechanisms underlying the relationship between fruit and vegetable intake and coronary heart disease - Crowe concludes - we will be able to determine whether this relationship is a true causal relationship."
FOOD IN ITALY - Whatever the scientific explanation, but the message is clear: the more you eat healthier with more fruits and vegetables, the better. Italy in this regard seems to be on track. Of all the countries surveyed, is the only, together with Spain, which exceed an average of six servings of vegetables throughout the day. This is partly due to the large variety of fruits and vegetables and culinary traditions of the Mediterranean countries which have just as Italy. Not by chance that it is precisely the states of northern Europe, less gifted in terms of variety of food, to consume less fruit and vegetables. The portions of vegetables consumed daily by an Englishman, are on average 4.5, while a Swede can not even at 4. Of the total sample considered by the European Crowe, however, only one in 5 people get to the destination advocated eight servings. In Italy in fact INRAN guidelines, the Institute National Research Institute for Food and Nutrition, suggest, good health, to consume fruits and vegetables five times a day. In the Bel Paese, however, abounds with quantity, not more than 80 grams cited EPIC's shriveled, but rather the 250 and 150 grams respectively for vegetables and fruit, INRAN defined as a single portion.
Cristina Gaviraghi
February 17, 2011
0 comments:
Post a Comment