Fruits and Veggies - You need to eat more!

The latest recommendation: you need more than ‘five a day’

Fill half your plate with veggies.
Extra tip: Use a smaller plate to control portion sizes.

Top your pizza with veggies, not fatty meats.
Extra tip: Choose a whole-wheat crust and reduced-fat cheese.

Add broccoli to your mac & cheese.
Extra tip: Make sure it’s reduced-fat cheese, and use whole-wheat or multigrain pasta.

Make fruit smoothies.
Extra tip: Keep them light with nonfat yogurt or soymilk.

For more than a decade, we’ve been encouraged to eat five servings of fruits and vegetables a day. Now, adult guidelines are jumping to 7-13 servings, depending on age and activity level. That’s a major change for most of us.

Sure, we’ve been told that a diet rich in fruits and veggies helps control weight and reduce the risk for cancer, heart disease, type 2 diabetes and other problems. But we’re not acting on that knowledge. “The typical American meal is beef, fries and a small salad drenched in high-fat dressing, and it’s killing us,” says Brian Stello, M.D., family medicine physician at Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network.

Fruits and vegetables are nutritional powerhouses, Stello says: “They provide cancer-fighting antioxidants, fiber, vitamins that boost the immune system, and many other essential nutrients. And fruits and vegetables are low in cholesterol, carbohydrates and sugar.”

Ready to make some changes in your diet? “First, you need to recognize the impostors,” says Elizabeth Stark, registered dietitian at the hospital. “Fruit roll-ups and most bottled juices don’t count as fruit (they have lots of added sugar), and frozen vegetables in creamy or cheesy sauces, Tater Tots, french fries and veggie chips don’t count as vegetables.”

If you can’t get fresh fruits and vegetables, frozen ones usually conserve the essential nutrients. As for canned foods, read the labels carefully—avoid fruit packed in heavy syrup and vegetables with high sodium content. “Choose fresh fruits and veggies as often as you can,” Stark says. “Make them part of every meal, and snack on them instead of cookies or chips. You can eat more and feel fuller with fewer calories.”

It’s important to eat a wide variety of fruits and vegetables to get all the nutrients you need. Darker-colored items like broccoli, carrots and yams generally have the most. Go easy on the corn and peas, which are high in carbohydrates. Experiment with fruits and vegetables you’re unfamiliar with, and gradually make them—not meat—the centerpiece of your meal.

This spring you’ve probably seen a new campaign from the Produce for Better Health Foundation. The goal of “Fruits & Veggies— More Matters” is to boost our consumption beyond “five a day.” Even a modest change in our nation’s eating habits will help prevent a looming health crisis. Don’t worry about counting up servings—just try to eat more fruits and vegetables than you have been.

Published from Healthy You Magazine, May-June 2007

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