Jinan, China – Eating five servings of fruit and vegetables each day can help a person live longer, a recent study indicates.
Researchers from two universities in China; the National Institutes of Health in Rockville, MD; and the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston analyzed 16 studies involving more than 830,000 people. They found eating more fruit and vegetables is associated with reduced risk of death from all causes. The average risk of death was reduced by 5 percent with each daily serving of fruit or vegetables. Risk of cardiovascular disease was reduced by 4 percent for each serving.
However, eating more than five servings of fruit and vegetables a day did not further reduce the risk of death, the researchers pointed out. Additionally, a measurable association did not exist between eating more fruit and vegetables and risk of death from cancer.
The studies followed participants for as long as 26 years and recorded more than 56,000 deaths – about 11,500 from cardiovascular disease and nearly 17,000 from cancer.
The study was published online July 29 in BMJ.
