英国新闻听力 水果,蔬菜和疾病

Fruit and Veg and Serious Illness 水果、蔬菜和疾病

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 chronic¹ 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 averted² by eating more fruit and veg.

It seems that the key to avoiding cancers is to have an overall healthy lifestyle which includes not smoking or drinking a lot of alcohol, taking exercise and avoiding obesity³.

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 lifestyle jigsaw⁴."

1 chronic   

adj.(疾病)长期未愈的，慢性的；极坏的

参考例句：

• Famine differs from chronic malnutrition.饥荒不同于慢性营养不良。
• Chronic poisoning may lead to death from inanition.慢性中毒也可能由虚弱导致死亡。

2 averted   

防止，避免( avert的过去式和过去分词 )； 转移

参考例句：

• A disaster was narrowly averted. 及时防止了一场灾难。
• Thanks to her skilful handling of the affair, the problem was averted. 多亏她对事情处理得巧妙，才避免了麻烦。

3 obesity   

n.肥胖，肥大

参考例句：

• One effect of overeating may be obesity.吃得过多能导致肥胖。
• Sugar and fat can more easily lead to obesity than some other foods.糖和脂肪比其他食物更容易导致肥胖。

4 jigsaw   

n.缕花锯，竖锯，拼图游戏；vt.用竖锯锯，使互相交错搭接

参考例句：

• A jigsaw puzzle can keep me absorbed for hours.一副拼图就能让我沉醉几个小时。
• Tom likes to work on jigsaw puzzles,too.汤姆也喜欢玩拼图游戏。