Five-A-Day Fruit & Vegetable Challenge

This week’s featured Challenge is to eat five servings of fruits and/or vegetables each day. The benefits from doing so include adding essential vitamins, minerals, and fiber to your diet that help protect you from chronic diseases and certain cancers. Substituting low fat and low calorie fruits and vegetables also assist in weight management.
 
The best approach to eating five servings of fruits and vegetables is to “substitute” them for less nutritious and higher calorie foods. Adding strawberries, blueberries, peaches or bananas to cereal in the morning should mean less cereal in the bowl. Replace cheese, meat, and bread at lunch with more vegetables. At dinner, make sure that fruit, vegetables, and whole grains consume most of your plate.

Choosing fruits and vegetables as snacks during the day assures that you are getting good nutrition and few calories at the same time. Avoid the calorie-loaded vending machine and opt for fresh fruit or vegetables from home. Here are some healthy, low calorie, snack suggestions from the CDC (Centers for Disease Control):

• a medium-size apple (72 calories)
• a medium-size banana (105 calories)
• 1 cup steamed green beans (44 calories)
• 1 cup blueberries (83 calories)
• 1 cup grapes (100 calories)
• 1 cup carrots (45 calories), broccoli (30 calories), or bell peppers (30 calories) with 2 tbsp. hummus (46 calories)

Fresh, frozen, canned, dried and juiced fruits and vegetables all count towards the five daily servings. When all of these forms are combined with the proper serving size, it becomes easy to achieve five servings of fruits and vegetables each day. A serving size can be compared to the size of your fist - approximately one cup. Here are some simple guidelines:

• 1 medium piece of fruit or vegetable (baseball sized) is about 1 cup
• 1/2 cup dried fruit = 1 cup of fresh fruit
• 1 cup (8 oz.) 100% fruit or vegetable juice = 1 cup of fruit or vegetables
• 2 cups of leafy greens = 1 cup of vegetables
• 1/4 cup (1 oz.) of nuts = one serving

Make eating five servings of fruits and vegetables each day a priority.  Plan for it when you shop.  Start your day off with a nutritious breakfast with at least one serving of fruit.  Add fruit and vegetables for snacks during the day. Include a serving at lunch and dinner.  It's that easy!  For more information go to  Fruit and Veggies Matter

Eat WELL!

Michael