She’s chopping broccoli (and living longer)

Well, like we couldn’t have guessed this: a new study shows that eating more fruits and vegetables will help you live longer. The mustard family plants, like cauliflower and broccoli seem to do the most good although they admit there is no causal link between veggies and longevity.

The data “provide strong support for the current recommendation to increase vegetable consumption to promote cardiovascular health and overall longevity,” study researcher Dr. Xianglan Zhang of Vanderbilt University School of Medicine said. As most of us know, those mustard family veggies provide loads of vitamin C, fiber, calcium and other nutrients with healthful benefits.

The study followed 135,000 Chinese adults over five years. They found the ones who ate the most vegetables were 15% less likely to dies over that time frame than the people who at the least. When they focused in on the mustards, the difference was even greater.

The researchers could eliminate some additional lifestyle habits that might have tilted the scale: they factored in age, weight, exercise habits, vitamin use and smoking. But they admit not all the variables could be eliminated to say the longevity was based on vegetables alone.

Nevertheless, this should encourage us all to eat more of the crunchy greens. There is no doubt something is working there.

Source: Reuters, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition