"Eat your veggies and you may live longer https a study suggests. The study shows that eating foods rich in antioxidants https like vegetables and fruits fights disease and may prolong life. Researchers found that people with the highest levels of the antioxidant alphacarotene in their blood https had a  lower risk of death from any cause including heart disease https and cancer https than those who had the lowest levels of the antioxidant during the year study. These findings support increasing fruit and vegetable consumption as a means of preventing premature death write researcher Chaoyang Li MD PhD of the CDC and colleagues in the Archives of Internal Medicine. Alphacarotene is part of a group of antioxidants known as carotenoids which also includes betacarotene and lycopene. Vegetables particularly high in alphacarotene include yelloworange vegetables such as carrots sweet potatoes pumpkin and winter squash and dark green vegetables such as broccoli green beans green peas spinach turnip greens collards and lettuce. Although previous studies have suggested eating more fruits and vegetables https is associated with a lower risk of disease studies have not shown that taking betacarotene supplements https reduces the risk of dying from heart disease https or cancer https Continue Reading Below you might like Researchers wanted to see if other carotenoids may also play a role in reducing the risk of disease. Reduced Risk of Death In this study researchers looked at the relationship between blood https levels of alphacarotene and the risk of death in  adults who participated in the Third National Health and Nutrition https Examination Survey Followup Study. The participants provided blood samples between  and  and were followed through . The results showed the risk of dying during the followup period was consistently lower in people with higher levels of alphacarotene in the blood. The protective effect of alphacarotene also increased as blood levels of the antioxidant increased. For example compared with people with the lowest levels of alphacarotene between  and  microgram per deciliter the risk of death was  lower among those who had concentrations of between  and  micrograms per deciliter. The risk of death was  lower among those with the highest levels of alphacarotene in their blood  micrograms per deciliter or higher. Researchers say higher levels of the antioxidant were also linked to a lower risk of dying from cardiovascular disease https or cancer https as well as from any other cause. They say alphacarotene is chemically similar to betacarotene but may be more effective at protecting cells in the brain https liver https and skin https"