AT LEAST 30,000 lives a year could be saved if British people ate more fruit and vegetables, a consortium of health and food experts said yesterday.
Doctors said that eating five portions of vegetables and fruit a day - a total of 14.1oz - would mean that between 20 and 30 per cent of the lives lost through heart disease could be saved.
A two-year study by the British Heart Forum has concluded that this level of fruit and vegetables in the diet really does make a difference.
Nor does it matter how the vegetables and fruit are eaten, raw or cooked, fresh of frozen, tinned or dried. All are beneficial, the experts said.
One portion is equivalent to 80g or 2.8oz, and the "five portions a day" advice is in addition to the potatoes that an individual might eat.
The forum also concluded that there was no evidence that taking vitamins, in particular the anti-oxidant vitamins A, C and E as supplements or alternatives to a diet rich in fruit and vegetables, will provide any protection.
Some studies have show that taking supplements of beta-carotene, a variant of vitamin A, might even increase the risk of heart disease, said Prof Michael Marmot, an epidemiologist and member of the forum. "Why fruit and vegetables that are high in these vitamins provide protection and vitamin supplements do not, based on the evidence available, is a puzzle," he said.
"There are two possible explanations: one is that it may not be the anti-oxidant properties of A, C and E vitamins that have the effect but some other anti-oxidants in fruit and vegetables.
"The other may have to do with the circumstance of putting supplements on trial. Trials are short-term compared with a lifetime and they may have different biological effects in the diet," he said.
"In contrast, the strong message emerging from studies looking at diets rich in vegetables and fruit is that they are associated both with overall lower death rates, as well as a reduction in deaths from heart disease."
In Britain, where an average person eats three portions of fruit and vegetables a day, there are 150,000 deaths from heart disease each year.
"Other things being equal, our estimate would be of the order of a 20 per cent to 30 per cent reduction in heart disease mortality," Prof Marmot said.
The forum called on the Government and the food industry to lead a co-ordinated national campaign, costing £25 million over five years, aimed at raising the intake of fruit and vegetables in the diet. Consumption of fruit and vegetables in Britain is about half that of Italy and Spain and a third of what is eaten in Greece. Deaths from heart disease in Greece are half those in Britain.
Within this country there are also variations. In Scotland and the north of England, people ate just less than two and a half portions, while up to three and a half portions were eaten in the South-West and South-East.
People in higher social classes also ate more fruit and vegetables than those in the lower groups.
The pattern of heart disease followed these regional and social trends, with more deaths occurring in Scotland and the North and among poorer classes, the forum members said.
Imogen Sharp, director of the forum, said: "On the current evidence, measures to increase vegetable and fruit consumption across the population must have a firm place in a national heart disease prevention strategy.
"The cornerstone should be co-operation between the food industry, Government, and health professionals."
She called for a national strategy similar to one introduced in America in 1991 which proved a great success. In the past five years average adult intake of fruit and vegetables in the US had increased from 3.9 to about 4.4 daily servings.
Funding would have to come from the food industry and the Government, said Ms Sharp. She said the industry would back the idea if the Government was willing to lead the way.
