Everyone remembers the Five A Day campaign and that we are supposed to get five servings of fruits and vegetables a day.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has replaced the Five A Day program with “Fruits & Veggies – More Matters,” and the recommendation for daily fruits and vegetables is closer to nine servings per day now. Fruits and vegetables have officially replaced grains as the largest food group.
Fruits and vegetables play vital roles in our bodies. They are good sources of vitamins C, E and beta-carotene, which are powerful antioxidants. Antioxidants are responsible for fighting free radicals in our bodies, and free radicals are cancer-causing agents that travel through the body, damaging cells as they go. Meeting the daily recommendation of fruits and vegetables greatly reduces your chances of developing many cancers.
Produce is also loaded with fiber. Fruits have soluble fiber, which binds with the cholesterol in your body and carries it out. This helps to reduce the levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL), or “bad” cholesterol, in your blood. Vegetables are rich in insoluble fiber which helps prevent constipation and hemorrhoids.
Fruits and vegetables provide most of the vitamins and minerals our bodies need to function properly. Some might think that if they take a vitamin everyday, they’re meeting all of their needs and don’t have to worry about eating fruits and vegetables.
This is not true. Taking a daily multivitamin will help to prevent vitamin and mineral deficiencies, but research shows that multivitamins do not offer the same cancer-fighting protection that getting the recommended daily amount of fruits and vegetables does. Focus on getting your vitamins and minerals from plant sources.
When it comes to fruits and vegetables, buying fresh is always best, but fresh produce is expensive and spoils quickly. Frozen vegetables are almost as good as fresh ones in terms of taste, as well as nutritional value. You can keep frozen vegetables longer than fresh vegetables, so they are a good option if you are on a budget or if you don’t cook very often.
Canned fruits and vegetables can be kept for long periods of time and are relatively inexpensive. However, exposure to high heat during the canning process destroys some of the vitamins. Also, canned foods often have lots of added sodium and heavy syrup. Buy fruits canned in their own juices or water and canned vegetables that are low-sodium or no salt added.
The less exposure fruits and vegetables have to heat, the better. Heat destroys many vitamins, so they will retain more of their nutritional value if you eat them raw rather than cooked. When vegetables are boiled, many of the vitamins and minerals are leached out and left floating in the water. Steaming or microwaving them will cause them to retain most of the vitamins and minerals.
It’s not easy to get nine servings of fruits and vegetables each day. I have a hard time with it, and it’s my job to think about food all day. Start slow by adding fruit to your cereal or carrying an apple with you for a snack. Get a double serving of veggies when you eat out instead of the extra noodles. Even if you don’t hit the nine servings mark, you’ll be a lot better off.
JoLee Seaborn is a senior majoring in nutrition. Her health column runs on Wednesdays.
