Only 7% of our compatriots (aged between 18 and 69) include 5 portions of fruit and vegetables in their daily diet, i.e. the quantity recommended by the WHO - World Health Organization, while 52% take only 1-2 portions, 38% approximately 3-4 portions and 3% consume none at all. This was made known by the Plant-Based Products Group of the Italian Food Union, on the occasion of "World Health Day", scheduled for 7 April.
Consumption, we read in a note, is almost always lower in the central-south regions than in the north, with the exception of Sardinia, where one of the highest percentages on the Peninsula is recorded (14%). The regions above the national average are Liguria, Piedmont, Veneto, the province of Trento and Basilicata which, with 10% of the population consuming all the recommended portions, stands out from the shares of the neighboring regions. Among the areas with the 'black shirt': Calabria and Campania, but also Puglia and Molise. Recent surveys by the Vegetable-Based Products Group of the Italian Food Union also record that 4 out of 5 Italians choose them because they consider them healthy and 7 out of 10 because they are tasty. It is reported that according to the World Health Organization, adequate consumption of fruit and vegetables would change the world map of cardiovascular diseases: it is estimated that with 600 grams of fruit and vegetables a day, over 135,000 deaths, 1/3 of the diseases, would be avoided coronary heart disease and 11% of strokes. "It is demonstrated by numerous scientific evidence - states Lucilla Titta, nutritional biologist consulted by the Plant-Based Products Group - that a protective diet for health is based on foods of plant origin such as vegetables, legumes, cereals and wholegrain derivatives, fresh fruit , nuts, oilseeds and vegetable oils". "When it comes to fruit and vegetables - comments Giorgio Donegani, food technologist and nutrition expert - you just need to follow a simple rule: eat all the colours".
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