Last year a study published in Lancet concluded that higher fruit, vegetable, and legume intake is associated with a lower risk of non-cardiovascular mortality and total mortality, with a non-significant trend for cardiovascular mortality, in a global population. Previous research and many dietary guidelines in North America and Europe recommended intake ranging from 400 to 800 g/day, but these targets are unaffordable for most individuals in LIC and LMIC.
Even a small reduction in the recommendation from 400 to 375 g/day may have important implications on household spending and food security in poorer countries. Our findings that even three servings per day (375 g/day) show similar benefit against non-cardiovascular and total mortality as higher intakes and trends towards benefit for cardiovascular mortality, indicate that optimal health benefits can be achieved with a more modest…
