In March experts asked for guidelines to be revised upwards to seven-a-day
But researchers from the university and China say five is still fine
Eat well: Researchers reviewed 16 studies involving more than 830,000 people and confirmed that five portions appeared best
Eating more than five portions of fruit and vegetables a day won’t help you live any longer, claim researchers.
A major study shows that five a day is the optimum for reducing the chances of dying at any age – especially from heart problems – but that eating additional fruit and veg is unlikely to make a difference.
It comes after a call by some experts in March for the five-a-day message to be revised upwards to seven-a-day because of British research by University College London suggesting that it led to the lowest risk of premature death.
In the latest study, researchers from China and Harvard School of Public Health in the US reviewed 16 studies involving more than 830,000 people and confirmed that five portions appeared best.
The review, published on thebmj.com, found that higher consumption of fruit and vegetables was significantly associated with a lower risk of death from all causes, particularly cardiovascular problems.
The average risk of death from all causes was reduced by about five per cent for each additional daily serving of fruit and vegetables compared with eating none.
But once a person had consumed five portions, eating more did not enhance survival chances.
The maximum achievable cut in premature death risk was around 25 per cent.
The standard portion was defined as 77g for vegetables and 80g for fruit. Just one in four Britons manages to eat five portions a day, with the proportion plummeting to one in ten among teenagers.
The review says: ‘This analysis provides further evidence that a higher consumption of fruit and vegetables is associated with a lower risk of all-cause mortality, particularly cardiovascular mortality.
‘There was a threshold around five servings of fruit and vegetables a day, after which the risk of all cause mortality did not reduce further.’
The researchers speculate that eating more does not produce greater benefits because the body cannot absorb any more nutrients, and there’s a limit on the digestibility of fruit and vegetables.
Professor Tom Sanders, of the School of Medicine, Kings College London, said the finding should not put people off eating plenty of fruit and vegetables.
The researchers speculate that eating more does not produce greater benefits because the body cannot absorb any more nutrients, and there¿s a limit on the digestibility of fruit and vegetables
Women who eat healthily and exercise while going through a divorce or other stressful periods, are more likely to avoid premature ageing, says a study.
The key, say scientists, lies in our telomeres – biological caps at the ends of chromosomes that protect the DNA in them from damage. As we get older, our telomeres get shorter.
US scientists took blood samples from 250 women aged 50 to 65 to measure their telomeres and investigated their lifestyles.
‘Those who exercised, slept well and ate well had less telomere shortening than the ones who didn’t maintain healthy lifestyles, even when they had similar levels of stress,’ researcher Eli Puterman, of the University of California, told the journal Molecular Psychiatry.
Source: Daily Mail
