Eat More Fruits & Veggies

 

Last year on The PediaBlog, we learned that eating five servings a day of vegetables and fruits dramatically lowers the risk of death in adults from all causes, including from heart attacks and strokes, cancer, and chronic lung diseases. So how are we measuring up?

A national survey published last January in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report found that in 2017, only 7.1% of teenagers met USDA recommendation of eating two servings of fruit a day, and only 2% ate the recommended three vegetables every day. The researchers cited several barriers for insufficient consumption, including teens’ lack of taste preference for fruits and vegetables, the lack of home availability of fresh produce, and the presence of highly available, inexpensive, unhealthy food options.

The same CDC research team recently analyzed fruit and vegetable intake in adults. Compared to America’s youth population, grownups aren’t doing that much better:

The percentage of U.S. adults meeting fruit and vegetable intake recommendations is low.

In 2019, 12.3% and 10.0% of surveyed adults met fruit and vegetable intake recommendations, respectively. Meeting fruit intake recommendations was highest among Hispanic adults (16.4%) and lowest among males (10.1%). Meeting vegetable intake recommendations was highest among adults aged ≥51 years (12.5%) and lowest among adults with low income (6.8%).

 

The USDA’s dietary guidelines highlight six core elements that make up a healthy dietary pattern:

• Vegetables of all types—dark green; red and orange; beans, peas, and lentils; starchy; and other vegetables

• Fruits, especially whole fruit

• Grains, at least half of which are whole grain

• Dairy, including fat-free or low-fat milk, yogurt, and cheese, and/or lactose-free versions and fortified soy beverages and yogurt as alternatives

• Protein foods, including lean meats, poultry, and eggs; seafood; beans, peas, and lentils; and nuts, seeds, and soy products

• Oils, including vegetable oils and oils in food, such as seafood and nuts

 

Registered dietician and food writer Ellie Krieger consulted several nutrition experts to help put us on a path to better eating and improved well-being:

Add dark leafy green

Dark green leafy vegetables are packed with nutrients that fight cancer and promote the health of our hearts, eyes, bones, digestive systems, brains and skin[…]

It’s not as much of a stretch to add them to your life as you might think. It’s as simple as tossing a handful of chopped greens into a tomato sauce or soup, adding a few leaves to your usual smoothie (they won’t change the taste of it) or adding a handful to a saute or stir-fry. There’s a bounty to choose from, such as arugula, spinach, Swiss chard, kale, collards, mustard greens and beet greens.

Swap out beef — most of the time

One of the most important changes we can make for both personal and planetary health is to eat less beef, says David Katz[…]

Less is better, he says, but that doesn’t mean everyone needs to be vegan. Start where you are, committing to, say, going meatless for one meal a day, or one day per week (as in Meatless Mondays).

“For our personal health, the biggest benefits are achieved if you swap out beef for plant proteins, like beans and lentils.”

Spice up everyday healthy ingredients

A good place to start, if you are a beginner, is with the spices Shiue says she uses most often — garlic (fresh or dried), ginger (fresh or dried) and cumin (whole and ground) — which are found in many cuisines globally; plus, smoked paprika, which she calls her “secret weapon” for enhancing the flavor of vegetable dishes, and cardamom, which she often sprinkles in her morning coffee.

Be easy on yourself in the kitchen, Krieger advises. “Good enough is great.”

The idea of doing less in the kitchen to get healthier might seem counterintuitive considering cooking at home is perhaps the most direct path to eating better, with more appropriate portions, and less salt, sugar and unhealthy fat. But taking our expectations down a notch can actually make developing the habit of home cooking more feasible for the long haul.

 

Read about how one small change can lead to healthier eating from Ellie Krieger here.

 

(Google Images)

 

source http://www.thepediablog.com/2022/01/19/eat-more-fruits-veggies/