Eat a Variety of Veggies for a Healthier You
May 13th, 2008 | 
Author: The new food guidelines issued by the United States government recommend that all Americans eat between five and nine servings of fruits and vegetables each and every day. When you first hear that number, it may seem like a lot, but it is actually much easier than you think to fit that many servings of fruits and vegetables into your daily diet. For one thing, the shelves of the grocery stores are fairly bursting with fresh fruits and vegetables. In addition, vegetables and fruits are some of the least expensive, most nutrient rich, foods in the supermarket. With all these fruits and vegetables to choose from, it is very easy to make these nutritious, delicious foods part of your daily meals and snacks.
When you take into account how much a serving really is, it is actually quite easy to get five to nine servings of fruits and vegetables per day. For instance, the recommended daily amount actually equates to a quite reasonable two cups of fruit and two and a half cups of vegetables every day. When you consider how many fruits and vegetables are available, and how low the prices usually are, it is easy to see how easy to reach this daily goal really is.
One great way to get the nutrients you need from fruits and vegetables every day is to take full advantage of the variety of these foods available. Eating the same thing every day quickly becomes boring, so why not pick a variety of fruits and vegetables, in every color of the rainbow and in every conceivable shape, size and texture, to give yourself a varied diet every day.
When shopping for fruits and vegetables, it is important to choose a variety of different colors. This is for more than purely artistic reasons. Different color fruits and vegetables have different types of nutrients, and choosing a variety of colors will help ensure you get all the vitamins and minerals you need each and every day.
Finding new recipes is another great way to ensure you get those five to nine servings of fruits and vegetables every day. Everyone likes to try out new recipes, and these new recipes may just provide the impetus you need to eat all those fruits and veggies.
New recipes can also provide you the important opportunity to try out some fruits and vegetables you have never tried before. For instance, everyone has eaten oranges, but have you tried kiwi fruit or mangoes? How about spinach or kale? Trying new things is a great way to find new favorites while getting the best nutrition available.
Many people mistakenly think that they do not need to eat five to nine servings of fruits and vegetables every day if they just take a vitamin supplement. Actually, nothing could be further from the truth. That is because fruits and vegetables contain far more than the micronutrients identified by science and synthesized in vitamin pills. While these micronutrients, such as vitamin C, vitamin A and vitamin E are important to good health, so too are the hundreds of other elements that are contained in healthy foods like fruits and vegetables. These elements are not available in any pill, they must be ingested through a healthy, balanced diet that contains plenty of fruits and vegetables.
In addition, fruits and vegetables are much less costly than vitamin pills. Fruits and vegetables are very inexpensive, especially when purchased in season and grown locally. In the long run, getting the nutrition you need from the food you eat is much less expensive, and much better for you, than popping those vitamin pills every day.
So don’t forget to get your five to nine servings of fruits and vegetables every day. It may seem like a lot, but you can meet this quite reasonable goal simply by including fruits and vegetables as snacks, as garnishes, as side dishes and as meals.
Posted in Eat Healthier
October 3rd, 2008 10:53 am
First thing, I completely agree with the article.
Having said that, I have found that “serving” is a terrible way to gauge how much you should eat. A serving of apple, might be less than half, people don’t tend to eat apples in increments, they tend to either have one or not.
I find that a better measure for fruit at least is 1-2 reasonable sized pieces a day e.g. 1 apple and 1 orange (with smaller fruits like apricots you can have more).
It is also important to remember that having too much fruit is also bad, fruit is high in fructose which is a sugar, so most fruit tend to be fairly high in calories. As always balance is the key.
March 29th, 2009 1:08 pm
Reports offered in Sciene Daily magazine (like http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/11/081118150630.htm) seem to show that regulare consumption of some foods like broccoli can reduce the chance of lung cancer, especially in smokers. Moreover, there are reports that eating red, blue, and purple vegetables provide a diet rich in anthrocyanins which apparently have a strong anti-cancer effect. Unfortunately, these are all the vegetables I dislike, so it is a tough late-in-life change to make for the over-50 crowd like me.
April 21st, 2009 11:15 am
Nice post
We should consume more fruits and vegetables instead of consuming non veg stuffs everyday.Vegan diets are also more cheap than non vegan ones.Also we should consume medicines and pills only when we really need them. Consuming tablets for nutrient is not suggested at all
Thanks john
April 22nd, 2009 6:02 pm
Eating fruits is healthy for life. It make you healthy and naturally strong without any side effect on your health. Thanks for sharing this great information
April 24th, 2009 7:14 pm
Moat people think that a vitamin supplement is enough for them to not worry about consuming fruits and vegetables. I see it everywhere but what they have to understand it is a synthetic version of the natural vitamins. We all know that anything man made cannot compare to the quality of something made from the earth. Our bodies were made to consume nature’s gifts which include fruits and vegetables. Substituting them for something more convenient would be detrimental for our bodies in the long run.
May 28th, 2009 11:27 am
Yes, raw fruits and vegetables contains fresh vitamins. They are better than cooked foods.
January 25th, 2010 2:26 pm
Our society has horrible eating habits. Too much too fast. No wonder that our colons are in such a bad shape. Had problems with my colon for a long time. I totally changed my diet, took a supplement and started exercising more.
Love your blog! Tons of information. Started my own small german blog about colon cleanse a few days ago: Mittel zur Darmreinigung Check it out if you speak any german.
Thanks for the article and keep it up!
September 7th, 2010 1:25 am
When you point out the low cost and high variety as well as what actually counts as a serving, getting all your fruit and veggie needs in a day seems very do-able.
February 7th, 2011 4:01 pm
in my opinion 5-9 is too much, theres too much carbs
August 1st, 2011 4:26 pm
Raw foods are definitely better than any cooked foods and are loaded with vital vitamins, nutrients and minerals needed for a very healthy lifestyle.