Fruits For Lunch, Veggies For Dinner Helps Avoid Cancer, Heart Disease: Study

Having fruits for lunch and vegetables for dinner and avoiding snacking on junk food in between was found to be effective in eliminating risk for heart disease and cancer, claims a new study.?

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The study was conducted by researchers at the Harbin Medical University in China where they looked at associations between dietary habits and health conditions among 21,500 individuals in the US who had participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 2003 to 2014.??

The study was conducted by nutritionist Ying Li and colleagues from the aforementioned institute, situated in Northern China’s Heilongjiang province. Researchers analysed the diets of the individuals and cross-referenced this data with the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention’s national death index, looking specifically for subjects who died up to the period of 2015 of causes including cancer, cardiovascular disease or others.?

Each individual’s dietary patterns were categorised based on the food they consumed, the meal times as well as what they consumed between meals. This included segregation based on fruits, vegetables, grain-based food and starchy food options.

Researchers found that eating fruit-based lunch was linked with a 34 percent reduction in risk of death from cardiovascular disease. On the other hand, a Western lunch that included grains, cheese and cured meat was linked with a 44 percent increase in cardiovascular-related mortality.

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People who ate evening meals rich in vegetables were linked with a 23 percent lower risk of dying from cardiovascular disease and a 31 percent lower chances of death from any other condition.?

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People who ate chips and other junk food saw a 50 to 52 percent rise in all-cause mortality and a 44 to 57 percent rise in cardiovascular-related mortality.?

Professor Li explained, “Our results revealed that the amount and the intake time of various types of foods are equally critical for maintaining optimal health. Future nutrition guidelines and interventional strategies could integrate optimal consumption times for foods across the day.”