Eating the right “mix” of fruits and vegetables can help you live longer, according to a new study.
Released by the American Heath Association on Monday and conducted by researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health TH Chan, the new study found that eating two servings of fruit and three servings of vegetables is associated with lower mortality rates.
Eating more than that was not associated with additional benefits, the study said.
“This amount probably offers the greatest benefit in terms of preventing major chronic diseases and is a relatively affordable intake for the general public,” said study author Dong D. Wang, MD, Sc.D., epidemiologist, nutritionist and a faculty member at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.
But not all fruits and vegetables were considered equal, according to Wang.
Although green leafy vegetables, including spinach, kale and lettuce, as well as beta-carotene-rich vegetables and citrus fruits and berries showed benefits, starchy vegetables such as peas, corn and potatoes, and fruit juices were not associated with risk reduced death or chronic illnesses.
To conduct the study, Wang and colleagues followed more than 100,000 adult women and men from 1984 to 2014 using food frequency questionnaires every two to four years. In addition, the researchers gathered data on the intake of fruits and vegetables from nearly 2 million adults worldwide.
The American Heart Association currently recommends four servings of fruit per day and five servings of vegetables per day, while the USDA Food Guide Pyramid recommends two to four servings of fruit and three to five servings of vegetables per day.
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