Enjoy the health benefits of growing your own (and eating it!)

We’re not eating enough of our greens… but men can improve their health with a spot of gardening, separate reports say

The NHS annual Health Survey (2018) published December 2019 reveals that nearly two-thirds of us are ignoring the health benefits of a diet rich in fruit and vegetables. The report – which relates to 2018 activity – showed that only 28% of adults were eating the recommended five portions of fruit and vegetables a day, with men worse than women. Moreover, just 18% of children aged between five and 15 were eating the recommended portions. The 16-24 age group were consuming the lowest number of portions of fruit and veg, “and were the least likely age group to eat their five-a-day recommendation”. Full report: http://bit.ly/NHSsurvey2018

And a new study, led by the University of Bristol and co-funded by World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) and Cancer Research UK (CRUK), found that men who are more likely to take moderate exercise such as gardening had a 51% reduced risk of prostate cancer compared to those who did not. The study was based on 79,148 prostate cancer cases – prostate cancer is the second most common male cancer worldwide.

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Dr Sarah Lewis, lead author of the research, said: “This study is the largest-ever of its kind which uses a relatively new method that complements current observational research to discover what causes prostate cancer. It suggests that there could be a larger effect of physical activity on prostate cancer than previously thought, so will hopefully encourage men to be more active.”

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Steve Ott

Steve Ott is editor of Kitchen Garden magazine and started his career as a professional grower, producing everything from cut flowers to vegetables. He has been growing fruit and veg all his life and spends most of his spare time in his garden in the East Midlands. He loves to experiment with crops and varieties he has never grown before and when he isn’t gardening is to be found out in the countryside bird watching and walking his dog Ted.