Most people are not eating enough fruit to make a substantial impact on risk for cancer and heart disease. A study in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition finds the risk of disease could be lowered by doubling the amount of fruit eaten each day.
The study analyzes data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's 1994-96 Continuing Survey of Food Intake by Individuals. Fruits have an antioxidant effect in the system and reduce the stress within cells, which could lower the risk of cancer and heart disease.
Children need two servings of fruit daily, women three and men four to provide the protection -- but eight out of 10 Americans are getting less than half of what they need to do the job. Overall, the study finds the lowest amount of fruit is eaten between October and March.
Men and women ages 15-50 eat about 1.4 servings of fruit per day. The study finds 66 percent of our fruit intake comes from only six sources -- apples, bananas, oranges, cantaloupe, watermelon and grapes.
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