Case for eating fruit and veg to prevent disease unconvincing

VEGETABLES and fruits in the diet are popularly assumed to keep cancer at bay — but they are not as protective as was previously thought, a study has found.

Evidence collected since the mid-1990s did not make a “convincing” case that eating fruit and veg prevents cancer.

But the researchers found that non-starchy vegetables, including green leafy varieties, spinach, broccoli, and aubergine, “probably” offered protection against cancers of the mouth, larynx, pharynx, oesophagus and stomach.