Eating more fruit and vegetables reduces your risk of heart disease, according to a new study part funded by the British Heart Foundation (BHF).

The study looked at the diet and lifestyles of over 300,000 in countries across Europe. They found that people who ate at least eight portions of fruit and vegetables a day had a 22% lower risk of dying from heart disease than those who ate three portions a day.

Victoria Taylor, Senior Dietitian at the BHF, said: This large observational study adds weight to the recommendation to eat more fruit and vegetables to help reduce our risk of heart disease.

“Although we have known for some time that eating five portions a day can help to lower our risk of heart disease, it has been less clear whether eating more than this will have an even better effect.

“The take home message is still that eating fruit and vegetables is healthy for your heart. We need to remember to make five portions our minimum as the more fruit and vegetables people ate the lower their risk of dying from heart disease became.

“We still don’t know exactly why we see this relationship between fruit and vegetables and heart disease. It may be something in the fruit and vegetables itself, but equally it could be something in the lifestyles of people who tend to eat more fruit and vegetables. There’s still work to be done by researchers to answer these questions.”

Recent research from the BHF also showed the importance of a diet rich in fruit and vegetables. Scientists at the University of Oxford worked out that 15,000 lives a year could be saved if everyone ate their 5-a-day. If people ate the recommended amount of fruit and vegetables 7,000 fewer people would die from coronary heart disease.