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18.11.2014

Optimal fruit and veg intake is a pound a day, says meta-study

People who want to live as long as possible should eat about a pound a day of fruit and vegetables. Chinese and American nutritionists draw this conclusion in an article published in the British Medical Journal. The researchers gathered data from 16 big epidemiological studies and re-analysed them. They had data on 833234 people.

Fruit and vegetables
The researchers performed statistical analysis to check for publication bias, and found none. This means that it was not just studies that show that fruit and vegetables are healthy that were published in scientific journals and that studies with different conclusions had been rejected.

Some studies express fruit and vegetable intake in servings; others use grams. For both vegetables and fruit 1 serving is about 80 grams.

Results
The researchers discovered that for every 80 g serving of fruit or vegetables that you eat per day your chance of having fatal cardiovascular problems decreases by 5 percent. And every serving eaten per day reduces the chance of developing a fatal form of cancer by 3 percent.

Optimal health protection was obtained by eating 5-6 servings amounting to about half a kilogram per day. Higher intake does not lead to a further reduction in mortality risk.

Conclusion
The protective effect of vegetables on cancer was not statistically significant in this study. "It is possible, however, that fruit and vegetable consumption might have stronger effects on specific cancer sites", the researchers write.

"In addition, different types of fruit and vegetables might have different effects on cancer risk. Future studies are needed to be more specific about types of cancer and the role of different groups of fruit and vegetables."

Source:
BMJ. 2014 Jul 29;349:g4490.

More:
Do you want to live longer? Eat more fruits and vegetables (without agro-industrial toxins) 23.02.2021
These two types of vegetables boost your vascular health 16.04.2020
Boiled and fried vegetables are healthier than raw vegetables 19.04.2016

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Longevity

Diet with lots of vegetables reduces risk of mortality and cancer A diet containing lots of fruit had no effect in the Korean study, however.	Live longer? Don't take pills, eat more veg... This is the conclusion we draw after reading the epidemiological study that researchers at University College London have published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.	Vegetarianism is healthy, but not because of lack of animal protein Vegetarianism primarily helps to reduce the chance of heart attacks, but does little to prevent cancer.