Eating more than seven servings of fruits and vegetables daily lowers death risk by half.
Current recommendations suggest that people should consume five servings of fruits and vegetables daily. However, University of California researchers are of the opinion "the more servings the better." According to a new study, consuming seven servings of fruits and vegetables - two more than the current recommended amount - lowers death risk leading to longer lives.
The researchers also found that fresh vegetables are slightly more beneficial than fresh fruits and canned fruits may increase death risk, according to a press statement.
For the study, researchers analyzed lifestyle data of more than 65,000 randomly selected adults aged at least 35. The information was collected from annual national health surveys for England conducted between 2001and 2008.
During this eight-year period, people who ate seven or more servings of fruits and vegetables were 42 percent less likely to die from any cause compared to people who ate only one serving of fruits and vegetables daily. Influencing factors like cigarette smoking, body mass index and physical activity level were also taken into account.
"People shouldn't feel daunted by a big target like seven," said study researcher Oyinlola Oyebode, of the University of California, Los Angeles, according to Live Science. "Whatever your starting point, it is always worth eating more fruit and vegetables."
Researchers also noted that eating less than seven servings of fruits and vegetables daily also has health benefits but not as many as eating seven servings daily. People who ate one to three servings were 14 percent less likely to die during the study; those who ate three to five servings were 29 percent less likely to die, and those who ate five to seven servings were 36 percent less likely to die, compared to people who ate less than one serving.
Researchers also looked into whether fruits and vegetables had equal health benefits or whether one was better than the other. They found that each daily serving of vegetables decreased death risks by 17 percent while fruits reduced the risk of dying by just 4 percent.
"Vegetables have a larger effect than fruit, but fruit still makes a real difference," Oyebode said.
Moreover, every serving of canned fruits increased death risks by 17 percent. A reason for this could be the high level of sugar in canned fruits.
"Most canned fruit contains high sugar levels and cheaper varieties are packed in syrup rather than fruit juice," said Oyebode in the press release. "The negative health impacts of the sugar may well outweigh any benefits."
The researchers concluded that the current "5-a-day" dietary guidance which includes servings of tinned or dried fruits may need to be revised.
"150 ml of freshly squeezed orange juice (sugar 13 g); 30 g of dried figs (sugar 14 g); 200 ml of a smoothie made with fruit and fruit juice (sugar 23 g) and 80 g of tinned fruit salad in fruit juice (sugar 10 g)...contain a total of some 60 g of refined sugar," they pointed out. "This is more than the sugar in a 500 ml bottle of cola."
The study was published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.
