Consuming at least 5 servings of fruit and vegetables a day extends life. The confirmation comes from a study by the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition and conducted on a sample of 71.706 Swedish men and women aged between 45 and 83 years.
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Consuming at least 5 servings of fruit and vegetables a day extends life. Yet another confirmation comes from a study by the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, published in theAmerican Journal of Clinical Nutrition and conducted on a sample of 71.706 Swedish men and women aged between 45 and 83 years.
Led by Professor Andrea Bellavia, the research team analyzed the consumption of fruit and vegetables thanks to a questionnaire administered to each participant. Subsequently, the data were cross-referenced with those on deaths recorded in the 13 years of follow-up. Were over 11 thousand participants died in this period of time (6.803 men and 4.636 women).
“The association between fruit and vegetable consumption and mortality has rarely been analyzed in large studies. The results of the few available studies are inconsistent. The goal was to examine the relationship between the amount of fruit and vegetables consumed and mortality, both in terms of time and frequency, in a large sample of Swedish men and women ", explain the researchers in the abstract.
Result? Lower consumption of fruit and vegetables has been progressively associated with shorter survival and higher mortality rates. Those who have never consumed fruit and vegetables hlived 3 years shorter and had a 53% higher mortality rate compared to those who ate 5 servings a day. Considering fruit and vegetables separately, it emerged that those who had never consumed fruit had lived 19 months less than those who had eaten one fruit a day.
Conversely, who ate 3 servings of vegetables a day in his life, he had lived 32 months longer than someone who had not consumed this amount. In conclusion, "the consumption of fewer than 5 servings a day of fruit and vegetables is associated with progressively shorter survival and higher mortality rates". It goes without saying that vegans and vegetarians are therefore very advantaged in terms of long life.
Roberta Ragni
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