Fruit and vegetable consumption is associated with reduced all-cause and cardiovascular mortality.

Context Dietary guidelines from around the world recommend the daily consumption of a variety of fruits and vegetables. For example, the ‘5 a day’ public health campaign in the UK encourages people to consume at least five 80 g portions of fruits and vegetables every day. These guidelines are largely based on recommendations from the WHO to consume at least 400 g of fresh fruits and vegetables a day to lower blood pressure and risk of coronary heart disease and stroke. Recent evidence from a large prospective study suggests that the optimal consumption of fruits and vegetables that is associated with the lowest risk of total mortality could, in fact, be greater than five portions a day.