How eating more fruit and vegetables – now prescribed as medicine by doctors – can prevent and even reverse cancer, diabetes and other diseases

Fruit and vegetables are full of nutrients and disease-fighting phytochemicals, and studies show eating more of them can help people manage chronic diseases

With doctors now prescribing patients plant foods, we look at their diverse health benefits and how much to eat to reap those, with help from nutritionists

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It’s not only an apple a day that keeps the doctor away. Fruits and vegetables are great sources of nutrients that research shows prevent diseases and even help reverse them. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 4:15pm, 25 Nov 2023Updated: 10:37am, 15 Dec 2023

As you walk past the fresh produce section of your local market or grocery store, pause for a moment to consider the wondrous health benefits tucked inside the goods on display. This food is medicine.

It’s not only an apple a day that keeps the doctor away. Fruit and vegetables are excellent sources of important vitamins and minerals, such as vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium, folate and potassium.

Most are high in fibre, too, which keeps a body “regular”, leaves us feeling full for longer, and helps manage blood sugar and cholesterol levels.

They contain phytochemicals – powerful compounds that help strengthen the immune system, reduce inflammation, protect cells from damage, and may prevent chronic conditions such as cancer.

Many of us sometimes take the fruit and vegetables available in our local supermarket for granted. But this food is medicine that can keep us healthy and help fight disease. Photo: Shutterstock

To encourage more people to tap into this goodness, produce prescription programmes are cropping up in more places in the world.

These allow doctors to prescribe fruit and vegetables to their patients alongside traditional medications, and offer financial help to low-income patients to purchase fresh local produce.