How Many Fruits And Vegetables Are Sufficient?
However, how much we need was not so clear. Since the 1980s, studies have shown that a diet full of fruits and vegetables is linked to a longer life. The popular DASH diet (the Diet to Stop High Blood Pressure) has shown that blood pressure drops proportionately with each additional fruit/vegetable. Over the decades, studies have continued to show that more and more fruits and vegetables have more benefits. In 2014, a British study showed that overall survival and cardiovascular benefits specifically were higher in the study group eating more than seven servings per day. The American Heart Association now recommends eight or more servings of fruits and/or vegetables per day for maintaining weight, cholesterol and controlling blood pressure. One serving: One serving is a baseball-sized fruit, one cup of raw vegetables, or ½ cup of cooked vegetables.
Why Are Fruits And Vegetables So Good?
Phytonutrients
First, it's full of minerals and nutrients called phytonutrients that vary based on your skin tone. It can be broken down into components such as carotenoids, phenols, flavonoids, resveratrol, and phytoestrogens. The brighter the fruit and vegetables, the more phytonutrients they contain. For example, red fruits and vegetables contain lycopene and have benefits in reducing stroke and prostate cancer. Orange, yellow and green fruits and vegetables are rich in beta-carotene, which can protect our eyes. Blue fruits and vegetables contain flavonoids, which help us dilate our arteries. Other nutrients abundantly found in fruits and vegetables are folic acid, magnesium, potassium, and vitamins K, which are important for many reactions in the body and are necessary to maintain healthy blood vessels. All fruits and vegetables are high in phytonutrients, so the goal is to get as many colors as possible, often referred to as "eating the rainbow."
Antioxidants
Eating fruits and vegetables is a great way to get the natural antioxidants in our bodies. As our bodies age and experience stress, oxidative stress increases that can damage cells and genes and lead to chronic diseases. Fruits and vegetables are full of natural antioxidants that fight these stressors and fight infections. Examples of fruits and vegetables rich in antioxidants are vitamin A and vitamin C. Vitamin A is abundantly found in carrots, dark green leafy vegetables, winter squash, watermelon, and peppers. Examples of fruits and vegetables rich in vitamin C include apricots, sweet peppers, green cabbage, broccoli, and citrus fruits.
Fiber
Another benefit of fruits and vegetables is that they are rich in fiber that helps us grow the good bacteria in our gut. A healthy gut contains 100 trillion colonies of bacteria that give us three million genes. These bacteria assist us from vitamins, hormones, and transmitters to our mind along with many other functions. High-fiber foods can grow colonies of good bacteria that then produce by-products called short-chain fatty acids that are essential to keeping our intestinal cells healthy and our immune cells healthy. In fact, a healthy blend of short-chain fatty acids can help prevent inflammatory responses, and directly help prevent conditions such as obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and rheumatoid arthritis.
How Can We Get So Much?
Many people think it's hard to get eight servings in a day. However, there are many ways to incorporate it into our daily lives. Using several at once in salads, stir-fries, smoothies, sauces, and soups is a great way to get 2-3 servings at a time. Also using your plate as a guide, try filling half of your plate with fruits and vegetables with your meals. You can get creative by adding mixed vegetables to pastas and casseroles, and fruits to pancake or waffle mixes and baked goods.
Some are concerned about living in areas where they do not have access to fresh produce all year round. You don't have to keep it fresh all the time. Frozen and dried fruits and vegetables are useful when fresh fruit is hard to find.
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