People who eat more fruits and veggies also tend to exercise more, not smoke, and eat healthier overall — so it’s hard to say if the fruits and veggies themselves are the reason they live longer.

Whether you’re young or old, smoke or don’t, are overweight or not — eating five servings of fruits and veggies a day still helps lower your risk of dying early.

The link between eating more fruits and veggies and living longer holds true whether people live in the US, Europe, or Asia, even if they eat different kinds of produce.

Even after accounting for exercise, calorie intake, and income level, eating more fruits and veggies still shows a link to lower heart disease death rates.

Whether the study included mostly men or women, lasted a long time or a short time, or was rated high or low quality, the link between eating more fruits and veggies and living longer stayed about the same.

Eating more than five servings of fruits and veggies a day doesn’t make you any less likely to die early — five is the sweet spot.