An "Apple a Day..."
5 portions of fruits and vegetables a day are associated with reduced mortality
Many of us have grown up with this cliched proverb, “An apple a day keeps the doctor away”, though Wikipedia makes it a point to tell us there is no scientific evidence this is true [1].
Since childhood, it has been drilled into our heads (definitely my head) that eating fruits and vegetables is good for our health. In recent years, this has sometimes become a fad, with some people and nutritionists even advocating a liquid diet of fruit and vegetable juices, apparently to “detox”, as if there are built-up toxins in our bodies that are just waiting to be flushed out. Seriously!!
Food-group specific diets and food fads, such as low-carb, keto, low-fat, only fruits, etc., don’t normally work beyond the first six months or so….most of us have experienced this phenomenon first-hand [2]…we start a new “diet”, we lose weight, we tell the world and everyone claps and then all those lost kilos and pounds and sometimes even more, come back in the next 6-12 months. All these so-called “diets”, show pretty much the same results in the first six months, with little to choose between them and then all of them become equally ineffective within a year. Dr. Tim Spector’s book, “The Diet Myth” and Micheal Pollan’s book, “Food Rules” both explore this subject in great detail, for those interested in knowing more.
What is known to work however, is a sensible eating habit that is sustainable over the long term and becomes part of our daily lives, coupled with physical activity (which I spoke and wrote about last week), both for weight loss and more importantly for living longer and healthier lives.
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