The Times - UK (2022-02-21)

the times | Monday February 21 2022 2GM 15

News

Eating vegetables may not protect
against heart attacks and other forms of
cardiovascular disease, a study has
found.
Scientists at three universities found
no evidence that eating a diet high in
vegetables cut the risk of cardiovas-
cular disease (CVD). Although partici-
pants who ate more vegetables
appeared less likely to suffer or die from
CVD, this effect disappeared when
other lifestyle and diet factors, such as
smoking, exercise and meat consump-
tion, were taken into account.
Researchers said people should still
eat at least five portions of fruit and veg-
etables a day because of the wider bene-
fits of a balanced diet and healthy
weight, which reduces the risk of other
serious diseases, including some
cancers.
The large-scale study was carried out
by scientists at the Nuffield department
of population health at Oxford Uni-
versity, the Chinese University of Hong
Kong and Bristol University.
It analysed the responses of nearly
400,000 participants in the UK Bio-
bank study to questions about their
average daily intake of vegetables.
About 4.5 per cent of the participants
went on to develop CVD. The risk of
dying from CVD was 15 per cent lower
for those who ate the most vegetables
than those who ate the least, but this
statistical link was greatly reduced

PAUL NICHOLLS

Vegetables ‘may not

beat heart disease’

when adjusted for other socioeco-

nomic, nutritional and health-related

factors. The authors said that more pre-

cise measures of those factors would

probably have removed any link.

Dr Qi Feng, a researcher at the Nuff-

ield population health department and

the study’s lead author, said: “Our large

study did not find evidence for a protec-

tive effect of vegetable intake on the

occurrence of CVD.

“Instead, our analyses show that the

seemingly protective effect of vegeta-

ble intake against CVD risk is very like-

ly to be accounted for by bias from

residual confounding factors, related to

differences in socioeconomic situation

and lifestyle.”

Other scientists said the research

simply showed the difficulty of study-

ing the link between food and health.

Naveed Sattar, professor of metabol-

ic medicine at Glasgow University, said

the authors of the study “may have

over-adjusted for factors that account

for lower intake of vegetables”.

He said the paper “should in no way

change advice to eat at least five

portions of fruit and vegetables a day”.

Dr Ian Johnson, a nutrition research-

er at Quadram Institute Bioscience in

Norwich, said: “The authors them-

selves acknowledge that they cannot

rule out the possibility of a true protec-

tive effect of raw vegetable consump-

tion but their results do seem to show

that other aspects of a healthy diet and

lifestyle may be more important.”

Billy Kenber

Waiting times rise as NHS dentists leave

The number of NHS dentists has fallen

to its lowest for nearly a decade, with

hundreds quitting in the past year.

Figures have revealed the scale of the

problem, which is leading to increasing

waiting times and forcing more

patients to go private. The Mail on

Sunday reported that there were 24,

NHS dentists in England in 2019-20,

but that the total had fallen by 10 per

cent in the past two years. Numbers are

at their lowest since 2013-14, with 951

having left in the past year.

Neil Carmichael, chairman of the

Association of Dental Groups, the

industry’s trade body, said that the loss

of more dentists would affect patients’

access to appointments. He said: “For

every full-time dentist who leaves the

NHS and isn’t replaced, we estimate

that approximately 2,000 patients

could lose access to NHS care.”

Dentists have said the gap between

those retiring and recruits is growing.

The Department of Health said that

it had provided funding for more

appointments. A spokesman said: “The

NHS is providing £50 million for up to

350,000 extra appointments. That’s on

top of our unprecedented support for

NHS dentists during the pandemic.”

Neil Johnston

Keeping their powder dry The Sealed Knot took cover as they marked the 1643 Civil War battle in Coleford, Gloucestershire