WASHINGTON (CNN) – Five is your lucky new number.
This is the number of servings of fruits and vegetables you need to eat each day to live the longest., according to a new study published by the American Heart Association that looked at data representing nearly 2 million adults worldwide.
Two of those five servings should be fruit – the other three should focus on vegetables, the study found.
“This amount provides the greatest benefit in preventing major chronic diseases and is a relatively achievable contribution for the general public,” said lead author Dr. Dong Wang, an epidemiologist and nutritionist at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. , in a statement.
However, there were differences in benefits, depending on the fruit or vegetables in question.
“We also found that not all fruits and vegetables offer the same benefits, even though current dietary recommendations generally treat all types of fruits and vegetables, including starchy vegetables, fruit juices and potatoes, as well.” said Wang.
Peas, corn, potatoes and other starchy vegetables, for example, have not been associated with a reduced risk of death or specific chronic diseases.
Green leafy vegetables, rich in beta-carotene and vitamin C, such as spinach, leafy greens and cabbage, along with carrots, have shown benefits.
In the fruit category, fruits packed with beta-carotene and vitamin C, such as berries of all kinds and citrus fruits, also helped reduce the risk of death and chronic disease. However, fruit juice did not. Previous research has found that fiber from whole fruits is the key to any benefit.
“All the evidence in the study should convince health professionals to promote the consumption of more fruits and vegetables as a key dietary strategy, and citizens to accept this,” wrote Dr. Naveed Sattar and Dr. Nita Forouhi in an editorial companion that will be published in April.
The biggest gains can come from encouraging those who rarely eat fruits or vegetables, because diets rich in even more modest consumption of fruits and vegetables are beneficial.
–Dr. Naveed Sattar and Dr. Nita Forouhi
Sattar is a professor at the Institute of Cardiovascular and Medical Sciences at the University of Glasgow; Forouhi leads the nutritional epidemiology program of the MRC Epidemiology Unit at the University of Cambridge. None of them were involved in the new study.
“The biggest gains can come from encouraging those who rarely eat fruits or vegetables, because diets rich in even higher consumption of fruits and vegetables are beneficial,” they wrote.
Association, without cause and effect
The study, published Monday in the journal AHA Circulation, was extensive and in two parts. The first was an analysis of data from the nurses’ health study and the follow-up study of health care professionals, which followed more than 100,000 American men and women for up to 30 years. All participants completed a questionnaire on eating habits at the beginning of the studies; these questionnaires were updated every two to four years. This information was then compared with health records and deaths collected during long-term studies.
The second part of the study was a meta-analysis of data grouped from 26 studies covering nearly 2 million participants from 29 countries and territories in Asia, Africa, Australia, Europe and North and South America. These studies also compared self-reported fruit and vegetable intake with death rates.
People who consumed five servings of fruits and vegetables a day had a 13% lower risk of death from any cause than people who consumed only two servings of fruits and vegetables a day.
Consumption of five servings was also linked to a 12% lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease, including heart disease and stroke.
They also had a 10% lower risk of dying from cancer and a 35% lower risk of dying from respiratory diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease than those who ate only two servings, he found. The study.
Only 5 servings?
Strangely, the study found no benefit in extending life by consuming more than five servings a day of fruits and vegetables, which is contrary to previous research in both animals and humans.
A 2017 study found a significant reduction in the risk of heart attack, stroke, cancer and early death by eating 10 servings of fruits and vegetables each day. Animal studies have shown much lower immune responses in animals given two to three servings of fruit and vegetables a day than animals that ate five to nine servings a day.
“Eight to nine servings a day was where I saw the best effect (on immunity),” said study author Dr. Simin Meydani, senior scientist and leader of the nutritional immunology team at Tufts University. Jean Mayer, USDA, Research Center for Human Nutrition Aging.
Meydani pointed out that the new study was based on self-reported food consumption, which is based on participants’ ability to remember and be honest in recording what they ate. Therefore, the new study could only show an association between five servings and better health – not a cause and effect.
“It’s mainly based on observational studies and records of food intake, which I don’t think has the sensitivity to differentiate and identify exactly the dose needed,” said Meydani, who was not involved in the study.
In order to recommend that five servings of fruits and vegetables is the best dose, they will need to do a randomized controlled trial on either the results of the disease or health biomarkers, which has not been done in a systematic way, Meydani said. .
Few of us eat our fruits and vegetables
Dietary guidelines say that adult women should eat at least 1.5 cups of fruit and 2.5 cups of vegetables every day. Men need more – 2 cups of fruit and 3.5 cups of vegetables daily.
However, only 9% of US adults eat the suggested portions of vegetables and only 12% eat the recommended amount of fruit, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“The American Heart Association recommends that you fill at least half of your plate with fruits and vegetables at every meal,” said Dr. Anne Thorndike, who chairs the American Heart Association’s nutrition committee, in a statement.
“This research provides strong evidence for the lifelong benefits of eating fruits and vegetables and suggests a goal that should be consumed daily for ideal health,” added Thorndike, who is also an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. .
How many servings of fruits and vegetables do you usually eat a day?
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