How much fruit and veg should you eat?
Aim high — up to about 800 g a day, roughly 10 portions. Across 95 studies, each extra 200 g a day of fruit and vegetables was linked to about 10% lower risk of dying early, with benefit rising up to around 800 g a day. It's whole fruit and veg, not juice, and it's a strong association rather than proof of cause.
What the evidence supports
What it doesn't mean
- ✗ Proof of cause — the data are observational; we say "linked to"
- ✗ That juice counts — the benefit is for whole fruit and veg, not juice
- ✗ That more is always better — benefit flattens past ~800 g/day
Where this comes from
- What the human evidence shows
- The anchor is a 2017 dose-response meta-analysis of 95 prospective studies.1 Per 200 g a day of fruit and vegetables combined, the summary relative risk was 0.90 for all-cause mortality (about 10% lower), 0.92 for cardiovascular disease, 0.84 for stroke and 0.97 for total cancer. Risk kept falling up to about 800 g a day for heart disease and mortality, and about 600 g for cancer. Apples and pears, citrus, green leafy and cruciferous vegetables and salads stood out. A large 2014 BMJ meta-analysis reached the same conclusion.2
- Putting it in portions
- A portion is about 80 g, so 200 g is roughly two-and-a-half portions and 800 g is about ten. The familiar "5 a day" is around 400 g — a genuinely worthwhile, achievable target that captures much of the benefit. The data simply show the curve keeps improving up to about ten portions, so if five is easy, aiming higher appears to help, with variety across different fruit and vegetables mattering as much as the total.
- Where the evidence stops
- This is observational, so it shows association, not proof — people who eat more fruit and veg tend to be healthier in other ways too, which can exaggerate the link. But the effect is large, dose-responsive and biologically plausible (fibre, potassium, polyphenols), so the honest verdict is a strong association. Two practical caveats: it is whole fruit and veg, not juice — juicing strips the fibre and concentrates sugar — and there is no need to push far beyond ten portions.
The practical version: get to five portions a day reliably first — that's where most of the achievable benefit is — and if that's easy, work towards more, up to about ten, with plenty of variety. Whole fruit and veg, not juice. It's about as safe and well-supported as food advice gets, and there's nothing to buy: we recommend no supplement, and we sell nothing.
At a glance
Sources
- Aune D, Giovannucci E, Boffetta P, et al. Fruit and vegetable intake and the risk of cardiovascular disease, total cancer and all-cause mortality: a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of prospective studies. International Journal of Epidemiology, 2017. PMC5837313 — 95 studies; per 200 g/day all-cause mortality RR 0.90; benefit up to ~800 g/day.
- Wang X, Ouyang Y, Liu J, et al. Fruit and vegetable consumption and mortality from all causes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer: systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies. BMJ, 2014. PMC4115152 — corroborates the dose-responsive mortality association.
Bottom line for you
Eat plenty of fruit and vegetables, in variety, and lean towards the higher end — the data link each extra couple of portions to lower risk of dying early, of heart disease, stroke and cancer, with the lowest risk seen around ten portions a day. Nail five a day first; it captures most of the benefit and is realistic.
Two honest caveats: this is a strong association, not proof, and it's whole fruit and veg that counts — juice doesn't do the same job. Past about ten portions there's little extra to gain, so there's no need to overdo it. We recommend no supplement, and we sell nothing.
Get the evidence, not the hype
We'll send you the full Evidence Index table — every food and method we've rated by the strength of the human evidence, all in one place. Human studies only, and no supplements.
Educational information based on peer-reviewed human studies. Not medical advice. AntiAgingGreens never sells or recommends supplements. We report what the evidence shows — and where it stops.