7 a day

[mudskipper]

"Eating 7 a day could significantly cut the risk of death"

Eh?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-26818377

[mudskipper]

Ah, it's April Fool's day.

[NotAllThere]

7 a day? I'd never get any work done.

[pjclarke]

Seems to be genuine, reported in other media and the researcher Oyinlola Oyebode seems to be a real academic, not an anagram .....

[administrator]

Aye, heard this one on the radio yesterday too. Beeb are way too PC to pull an April Fool's for fear of offending anyone.

[Mich the Tester]

Telegraph saying TEN a day.

Healthy diet means 10 portions of fruit and vegetables per day, not five - Telegraph

[VectraMan]

What they said on QI was this 5 a day business was a number just plucked out of the air because that's the most they thought they could get away with saying, and that it wasn't based on any kind of medical data at all.

I note it says in the BBC article that canned fruit increases the risk of death. So anyone in their attempts to get to 5 a day who'd eaten canned fruit has actually shortened their life.

[Old Greg]

What they said on QI was this 5 a day business was a number just plucked out of the air because that's the most they thought they could get away with saying, and that it wasn't based on any kind of medical data at all.

I note it says in the BBC article that canned fruit increases the risk of death. So anyone in their attempts to get to 5 a day who'd eaten canned fruit has actually shortened their life.

Public health is quite interesting when it comes to evidence base. For example...

A few years ago there was a public health message put out that pregnant women should avoid alcohol entirely. The evidence is more nuanced than that but the belief is that the message is confusing and difficult to interpret. Public health looks at both, 'What is the scientific evidence' and 'What is the most effective message to improve health?' The rights and wrongs of it are another question. It's reasonably summarised here:

BBC News - Alcohol in pregnancy confusion warning from Public Health Wales

[GreyWolf]

Reduces the risk of death? I though death was a certainty.

[hyperD]

I think reading newspapers and watching TV is likely to kill you off quicker than fixating on the number of bland tasting supermarket carrots you can eat with a five turkey twizzlers a day mantra.