Five is your new lucky number.
That’s how many servings of fruits and vegetables you need to eat each day to live the longest, according to a new study released by the American Heart Association (AHA) that analyzed data representing nearly 2 million adults worldwide.
Two of those five servings should be fruit – the other three should focus on veggies, the study found.
“This amount likely offers the most benefit in terms of prevention of major chronic disease 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 in Boston, in a statement.
Which fruit or veggie makes a difference
There were differences in benefits, however, depending on the fruit or veggie in question.
“We also found that not all fruits and vegetables offer the same degree of benefit, even though current dietary recommendations generally treat all types of fruits and vegetables, including starchy vegetables, fruit juices and potatoes, the same,” Wang said.