We’ve known for centuries that incorporating fruits and vegetables into your daily diet has huge benefits to your body’s health. Not only are they delicious and often easy to make, but they are packed with nutrients like fiber, vitamin A and C, potassium and so much more. These vitamins are known to help prevent cancer, heart disease and many other illnesses. It is especially important to integrate these foods into your diet in order to replace unhealthier options full of empty calories and high in bad fats.
Fruit & Veggie Servings
Your first goal should be to hit the American Heart Association’s recommendation of 4 ½ cups of each per day. After you do that, strive to add more color to your plate by incorporating new fruits and vegetables. This ensures that you are getting a whole spectrum of nutritional goodness. There are five main color groups of fruits and vegetables:
Red & Pink
Beets, tomatoes, red peppers, cherries, raspberries and strawberries
Blue & Purple
Eggplant, red cabbage, blueberries, grapes and plums
Green
Asparagus, broccoli, kale, zucchini, pears, kiwi and avocados
White & Brown
Cauliflower, garlic, onions, shallots, mushrooms and bananas,
Yellow & Orange
Squash, carrots, sweet potatoes, cantaloupe, lemons, oranges, and peaches
Heart Health
According to research that Harvard Health is keeping a close eye on, consuming 10 servings of fruits and vegetables a day can decrease your risk of heart disease by 28 percent, and your risk of an early death by 31 percent. These findings were compared to five servings a day which amounts to about two and a half cups, and the risk of having a heart attack or stroke was only slightly lowered.
As mentioned before, fruits and vegetables are packed with fiber that appears to be the driving factor in lowering cholesterol, blood pressure levels and increased blood vessel functions. Because of the beneficial properties the fiber in fruits and vegetables can provide, try not to “drink” your vegetables by juicing them.
Dr. Barbara Edwards, Princeton internist practices at Penn Medicine Princeton Health in the Penn Medicine Princeton Medical Center and also serves as Medical Director of the Bristol-Myers Squibb Community Health Center.
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