WASHINGTON (CNN) – Five is your new lucky number.
It is the number of servings of fruits and vegetables you need to eat each day to live longer, according to a new study published by the American Heart Association that analyzed data from nearly 2 million adults worldwide.
Two of these five servings should be fruit; the other three should focus on vegetables, according to the study.
“This amount probably offers the maximum benefit in preventing major chronic diseases and is a relatively achievable intake for the general public,” said lead author Dr. Dong Wang, an epidemiologist and nutritionist at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital Boston, in a statement.
However, there were differences in benefits, depending on the fruit or vegetable in question.
“We’ve also found that not all fruits and vegetables offer the same degree of benefit, although current dietary recommendations usually treat the same all kinds of fruits and vegetables, including starchy vegetables, fruit juices, and potatoes.” , said Wang.
Peas, corn, potatoes, and other starchy vegetables, for example, were not associated with a reduced risk of death or specific chronic diseases.
Green leafy vegetables rich in beta-carotene and vitamin C, such as spinach, green leafy lettuce, and kale, along with carrots, showed benefits.
In the fruit category, fruits 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 does not. Previous research has shown that whole fruit fiber is the key to profits.
“All of the evidence in the study should convince health professionals to promote the consumption of more fruits and vegetables as a key dietary strategy and for citizens to accept it,” wrote Dr. Naveed Sattar and Dra. Nita Forouhi in an editorial to be published in April.
The greatest benefits may come from encouraging those who rarely eat fruits or vegetables, as diets rich in even modest fruit and vegetable consumption 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 Cambridge University. Neither participated in the new study.
“The biggest benefits may come from encouraging those who rarely eat fruits or vegetables, as diets rich in fruit and vegetable consumption are even modestly beneficial,” they wrote.
Association, without cause and effect
The study, published Monday in AHA’s Circulation magazine, was large and split into two parts. The first was a data analysis from the Nurses Health Study and the Health Professionals Monitoring Study, which followed more than 100,000 American men and women for up to 30 years. All participants filled out a eating habits questionnaire at the beginning of the studies; these questionnaires were updated every two to four years. This information was compared with health and death records collected during long-term studies.
The second part of the study was a meta-analysis of pooled data 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 mortality rates.
People who ate five servings of fruits and vegetables a day had a 13% lower risk of death from any cause than people who ate only two servings of fruits and vegetables a day.
Eating five servings was also associated with a 12% lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease, including heart disease and stroke.
They also had a 10% lower risk of death from cancer and a 35% lower risk of death from respiratory diseases, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, than those who ate only two servings, according to the study.
Only 5 servings?
Interestingly, the study found no benefit in prolonging life by eating 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 premature death by eating 10 servings of fruits and vegetables each day. Animal studies found much lower immune responses in animals that ate two to three servings of fruits and vegetables a day than animals that ate five to nine servings a day.
“Eight to nine servings a day was where we observed the best effect (on immunity),” said the study’s author, Dr. Simin Meydani, senior scientist and leader of the nutritional immunology team at the Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center at Tufts Aging University.
Meydani noted the fact that the new study was based on self-reported food intake, which features participants ’ability to remember and be truthful 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 is based primarily on observational studies and dietary intake records, which I don’t think have the sensitivity to differentiate and pinpoint the exact dose needed,” said Meydani, who did not participate in the study.
“In order to recommend that five servings of fruits and vegetables be the best dose, they should do a randomized controlled trial that looks at the results of the disease or health biomarkers, which has not been done systematically,” he said. dir Meydani.
Few of us eat our fruits and vegetables
Dietary guidelines indicate that adult women should eat at least 1.5 cups of fruit and 2.5 cups of vegetables each day. Men need more: 2 cups of fruit and 3.5 cups of vegetables daily.
However, only 9% of U.S. adults eat the suggested vegetable rations and only 12% eat the recommended amount of fruit, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“The American Heart Association recommends filling at least half of the plate with fruits and vegetables at each meal,” said Dr. Anne Thorndike, who chairs the American Heart Association’s nutrition committee, in a statement.
“This research provides strong evidence of the lifelong benefits of eating fruits and vegetables and suggests a target amount to consume 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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