Read the given passage and answer the question that follows by selecting the correct option:
Five a Day
A new study backs up the long-standing nutritional guideline that consuming five daily servings of a variety of fruits and vegetables is linked to longevity. People who daily consumed specifically two fruits and three vegetables had a 12 per cent lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease, a 10 per cent lower risk from cancer, and a 35 per cent lower risk from respiratory disease, compared with people who ate just two daily servings.
One 'serving' is 125 millilitres of any vegetables or fruits, or 250 millilitres of salad greens. You get the same beneficial vitamins, minerals and fibre in both, but vegetables are lower in calories and sugar, which is why the guidelines recommend higher consumption levels for them. The findings, included two studies of more than 1,00,000 American men and women who were followed for upto 30 years. Those studies were then added to 24 other studies from across the globe to conduct one large meta-analysis on more than 1.8 million participants.
Variety is the key, because different fruits and vegetables contain different beneficial nutrients and antioxidants. Almost all fruits and vegetables were associated with lower mortality but there were exceptions. Fruit juices and starchy vegetables such as peas, corn and potatoes were not associated with reduced risk of death or chronic diseases. It may be due to their higher glycaemic load.
Your five daily servings can be met from a variety of fresh, frozen or canned fruits and vegetables, whether conventional or organic. Whichever options are available, affordable and appealing are good choices.
Studies show that freezing and canning preserves nutrients, which makes these foods even more nutrient-dense than their fresh counterparts. They are good options for people whose barriers to consuming enough servings per day include the high cost, low access, poor quality and lack of variety of fresh fruits and vegetables.
On the basis of your reading of the passage, choose the statement that is INCORRECT.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → Peas, corn and potatoes are associated with lower mortality rate.
The question asks for the INCORRECT statement. The passage says that starchy vegetables such as peas, corn and potatoes were not associated with reduced risk of death or chronic diseases. Saying that they are linked to a lower mortality (death) rate goes against the passage, so this statement is incorrect.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 1: We must consume a variety of fruits and vegetables as they are high in nutritive value. — Incorrect. True in the passage: "Variety is the key" because different fruits and vegetables contain different nutrients and antioxidants.
Option 3: Fruit juices have high glycaemic index and are not associated with lower risk of death. — Incorrect. True in the passage: fruit juices were not linked to reduced risk of death, possibly because of their higher glycaemic load.
Option 4: Consuming fruit juices and starchy vegetables can heighten the risk of chronic diseases. — Incorrect. True in the passage:
- The passage says these foods are not associated with reduced risk of chronic diseases, possibly because of their higher glycaemic load.
- A high glycaemic load is generally linked to a greater risk of such diseases, so this statement goes with the passage.
- Option 2, on the other hand, says the direct opposite of what the passage states.