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Most of us have been told continually by our parents to eat our veggies and to eat more fruit. If your New Year's resolutions include consuming a healthier diet, you might be encouraged by statistics from the American Heart Association showing that the percentage of adults eating the recommended 5 servings of fruits and vegetables per day rose between 1990 and 1996. Unfortunately the findings, while promising, are still low: the percentage of women meeting the recommendations rose from 21.3 to 26.2; for men, the comparable figures were 16.5 and 19.1, respectively - meaning that the vast majority of Americans still have lots of room for improvement. In all, only 22.7% of American adults consumed fruit and vegetables at least 5 times a day in 1996, the latest year for which data are available. That was an increase from 19% in 1990. "It's good to see that more people are eating fruits and vegetables," says Barbara Howard, PhD, chair of the AHA's Nutrition Committee. "But it looks like there is a significant number of people still missing the message."
Throughout the rest of the world, we tend to mimic American trends!
Australian adults eat on average 2-3 serves of vegetables per day, half the recommended 5 serves for good health, while in the UK less than a quarter of people aged 19-64 eat the recommended five serves a day! Although people eat vegetables on most days, they need to increase the amount they eat.
Recent research shows that most people would benefit from increasing their fruit and vegetable intake. A lifetime habit of eating adequate amounts fruit and vegetables every day can help prevent:
* Coronary heart disease
* Some forms of cancer
* Overweight and obesity
* Constipation
It can also:
*Reduce blood pressure and blood cholesterol levels
*Improve control of diabetes.
Health authorities recommend you eat at least 2 serves of fruit and 5 serves of vegetables every day. Pregnant and breastfeeding women should aim to eat 4 to 5 serves of fruit and 6 to 7 serves of vegetables to meet the extra demands of the body.
The amount children should eat depends on their age, appetite and physical activity levels.
Fruit and vegetables may protect against cancer of the mouth, throat, oesophagus, bowel and lung. Eating more fruit may protect against stomach and bladder cancer.
Whether it is the vegetables and fruits themselves or the absence of other foods displaced from the diet that is associated with cardio vascular disease (CVD) risk reduction has yet to be determined. Regardless, diets rich in vegetables and fruits have been shown to lower BP and improve other CVD risk factors in short-term randomised trials. In longitudinal observation studies, persons who regularly consume such are at a lower risk of developing CVD, particularly stroke.
Fruits and vegetables are essential for a healthy balanced diet. They are a great source of fibre, vitamins and minerals. Fruit and vegetables also contain natural protective substances, such as antioxidants, that can destroy cancer-causing agents (carcinogens). However fruit and vegetables are probably most useful in helping to maintain a healthy body weight. Obesity is a risk factor for some types of cancer – bowel, breast, oesophagus, kidney and endometrium.
Diets like the Okinawa Diet™ that are full of vegetables, fruit and whole grains will not only decrease your risk for obesity, heart disease, cancer, diabetes, cataracts, stroke and hypertension, but they will keep you looking younger (and living longer). It's one of the keys to the success of the older Okinawans where there are more lean and healthy elderly than anywhere else -- but who look and feel decades younger.
Copyright © 2005, Okinawa Diet. All rights reserved.
How much do I need to eat?
Five serves of vegetables and two serves of fruit a day are recommended for good health and reducing cancer risk.
What is a serve?
1⁄2 cup cooked vegetables
1 cup of salad
1⁄2 cup legumes e.g. soy beans, lentils, chickpeas, kidney beans
1 medium sized piece of fruit e.g. apple, pear, orange, banana
2 small pieces of fruit e.g. apricots, plums, kiwifruit
1 cup fruit salad or canned fruit pieces
Tips for increasing your daily fruit and vegetable intake:
* Shop for fresh fruit and vegetables weekly to ensure you have a fresh supply available
* Enjoy fruit as a snack or for dessert
* Add fresh or canned fruit as a topping on breakfast cereal
* Fill half your dinner plate with vegetables
* Include at least three different coloured vegetables with your main meal
* For interest and variety, cook vegetables in different ways e.g. oven roasted, grilled or barbequed
* Include salad with lunch or choose dishes which include plenty of vegetables
* Use frozen, dried or canned vegetables and fruit if fresh is not on hand
* Adapt your recipes to include more vegetables, (e.g. add carrot, celery and peas to Bolognese sauce)
© The Cancer Council NSW. Updated August 2007.
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