How many fruits and vegetables do you need?

Almost everyone knows that fruits and vegetables are good for you.  But many people have no idea how many fruits and vegetables you need each day.  Many of my students say it is important to eat healthy but then have trouble defining what that means.  One thing “eating healthy” means is that you eat fruits and vegetables every day.  And there is a minimum you should eat.  Do you know what that number is?  Easy to remember, “5 A Day”, every day.  Early on in teaching I told my students to eat 5 fruits and veggies a day.  Then one student ate 6 fruits and veggies and told me they had to cut back.  I was puzzled, and asked, “Why are you cutting back on fruits and vegetables?”  She told me because I taught them “5 A day” and 6 must be too much.  So now I very carefully say, “at least 5 A Day”, as eating more than 5 is good for your health. 

The next question is – how many fruits and how many vegetables?  Can it be 4 fruits and 1 vegetable, 3 fruits and 2 vegetables?  There are many variations to get to 5 A Day.  My sister sent me a Harvard study that answers that question.  The Harvard study found that 2 fruits and 3 vegetables were just the right number of each to live a longer life. 

If you want to add years to your life, then aim for eating 2 fruits and 3 veggies a day.  If you aren’t anywhere near eating 5 A Day, as many of my students are not, then try to add another serving of fruits or veggies until you can get to 5 A Day.

Why fruits and veggies?  This study and other studies have found that eating fruits and vegetables lowers your risk of cancer and heart disease. 

So how many people are eating 5 A Day or more?  Not many.  The authors found that only 1 in 10 Americans are eating the recommended 5 A Day.  Some of the students in my class eat this amount but often the only “vegetable” eaten is French fries from a fast-food establishment.  A review of many student’s diet recalls shows no fruit at all, often no vegetables or the vegetable is only French fries.  As noted in previous blogs, one person’s only fruit serving was the slice of lemon in her ice tea.  Which, of course, does not count as a serving of fruit.  Some think drinking lemonade is a fruit serving, when lemonade is mostly sugar water.  Others think sports fruit drinks are a serving of fruit when many of these drinks have no fruit at all, just fruit flavoring.  Thus, I am not too surprised that only 1 in 10 people are reaching the minimum goal of 5 A Day.

How did this Harvard study come up with 2 fruits and 3 veggies as a recommended amount?  They looked at the Nurses’ Health Study which has followed a group of 100,000 nurses for over 30 years.  Every 2-4 years the nurses are asked detailed questions about their diets.  The Harvard study researchers also looked at 26 other studies from 29 nations and covering 1.9 million people. 

From these studies, they concluded that eating 5 A Day is the best number for living a longer life.  The longest life was for those eating 3 vegetables and 2 fruits a day. 

Some vegetables to emphasize are dark green leafy vegetables like spinach, kale, and dark lettuce.  Not the iceberg lettuce but darker greens like arugula and the spring mix you can buy at the store with baby romaine, endive, chicory, or spinach. 

Spring mixes are a healthy choice.

For fruit focus on good sources of vitamin C and darker orange fruits for vitamin A.  This would include citrus fruits (oranges, grapefruit, tangerine, and kumquats).  Yes, lemon and limes are also citrus but one would have to eat them to get the benefit and not just add a slice of lemon to tea.  Carrots are loaded with vitamin A as are sweet potatoes, acorn squash, butternut squash, pumpkin.  Tomatoes, green peppers and red peppers are also loaded with vitamin A.  

If you are trying to add more fruits and/or vegetables to your day, what are some ways to do so?

1. Start small – one student in my class had no fruits or vegetables in his diet, except French fries.  He finally added some V8 juice to his day.  Another student started to eat an apple a day.  Not a lot of variety but real fruit and it was a start.
2. Add a fruit to every breakfast.  I eat a banana every day.  Or drink some real juice (be sure it is real juice and not a juice drink like Sunny D).  Enjoy some melon, add some berries to your cereal.
3. Make a smoothie and add some fresh fruit or vegetables.  Some people don’t like the mushiness of blueberries or grapes.  So, add some blueberries to a smoothie. Or add any fruit you like.
4. Add vegetables to foods – making an omelet, add some onion, mushrooms, or some spinach, green pepper.  Making some meatloaf – add onions, some cut-up carrots. 
5. Enjoy some soup – there are so many soups chocked full of vegetables.  My daughters hate tomatoes but they like tomato soup.  Find a soup with some vegetables that you enjoy eating.
6. Add some vegetables to a snack.  Hummus is popular now and very healthy.  Enjoy some whole grain chips and salsa.  Salsa is very healthy. 
7. Try a different fruit or vegetable like kiwi, some fresh pineapple.  A student in my class said her kindergartner came home from school and asked why they never ate zucchini.  The student was surprised her son even knew what a zucchini was.  The student found out the kindergarten teacher introduced a fruit or vegetable each week in class and the kids got to taste it.  From then on, my student bought some zucchini.  The kindergartner added new vegetables to the entire family.
8. Out running errands and need a pick up?  Stop at Starbucks and pick up one of their protein boxes.  Choose a box with the fruit or veggies in them.  You not only get some high-quality protein (cheese, egg, or nuts) but most have some fruit or veggies.  

Starbucks' protein boxes are a healthy snack.

How can you add some fruit and veggies to your day?  Are you eating at least 5 A Day?

Sources:  study , fruits , vitamin A , ways , different , protein boxes   Images Sources:  boxes , mix  , Day

 Simple fruit smoothie (Adapted)

                Here is a way to us up ripening bananas and make a smoothie

Makes 1 serving:

                ¾ cup yogurt – plain

                ½ cup berries (can use fresh or frozen strawberries, blueberries, or a berry of your choice)

                ½ ripe banana

                ½ cup pineapple juice

Optional:  Add some ground flaxseed (about 1 Tablespoon) and get the healthy omega-3 fats

Directions:   Put all ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend to combine.  For different flavors, add some cinnamon, vanilla or mint.