Research shows that Americans are not eating enough fruit and veggies. This is hardly a surprise. I’m sure most of you struggle just as much as I do to get those five servings a day in. For some reason, getting enough processed grains and fats (as in, bad fats) never seems to be a problem. 🙂
The good news: a “serving” really isn’t all that much. For example, a medium fruit (such as an apple or an orange) is considered a serving. If you’re eating one of today’s jumbo fruit (how do they get them so big?) you’ve likely juts eaten two servings of fruit! Only three more to go.
Just a quarter cup of dried fruit is considered a serving, so if you make your own trail mix with a quarter cup almonds, a quarter cup raisins and a tablespoon of dark chocolate chips, you just had some heart healthy monounsaturated fat, anti oxidants AND another serving of fruit.
For most people, veggies are even less attractive than fruit, but since they tend to be packed with fibre and important nutrients, you really should aim to include at least two servings of veggies among those five a day.
A salad for lunch will take care of that (make sure it’s not loaded with too much dressing and fatty toppings!), as will a cup of vegetable soup loaded with veggies. Pasts or pizza are also great ways to get a serving or two of veggies, if you order pasta with a tomato-based sauce that contains veggies, or a veggie pizza.
In fact, if you have a breakfast that includes cereal or yogurt with sliced strawberries and bananas and a cup of orange juice, you already started the day off with 2-3 servings taken care of!
This just proves that getting five servings of fruit and veggies a day really isn’t all that hard. It’s quite easy in fact, as long as you make it a priority.
Author: Vered