Sticking to healthy diet ‘could save 33,000 lives a year’

If people in the UK stuck to a healthy diet then around 33,000 lives a year could be saved, a recent study has suggested.

Researchers at the University of Oxford found that up to 15,000 deaths a year cold be prevented if people ate five portions of fruit and vegetables a day.

"Meeting dietary recommendations would have a massive effect on the health of the nation. According to our model, the biggest impact would be eating more fruit and veg," explained the study's leader, Dr Peter Scarborough, from the University of Oxford's British Heart Foundation Health Promotion Research Group.

He went on to say that five portions should not be the limit and that the more of these foods people eat, the better.

The research has been published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

Earlier this month, Yvonne Bishop-Weston, nutrition consultant at Foods For Life, claimed that people should be told to include eight portions of fruit and vegetables in their diet each day, not just five.

Could you eat more than five portions of fruit and veg a day?