Taking a look at Canada’s Food Guide, the numbers of recommended servings of fruits and vegetables do sound a little ridiculous. I mean, 7-8 servings for an adult woman, and 8-10 servings for an adult man. Seriously??
On the surface, that does sound like a lot of food. The important question to ask next, however, is how much is a serving? Really, it’s not so much.
A typical serving of a fruit or vegetable, whether raw or cooked, is half a cup. So a half-cup of berries, carrots, potatoes, corn, bell pepper, pineapple, asparagus, broccoli, peaches, peas, green beans etc. etc. all equal one serving. A small banana or medium piece of fruit usually makes up one serving.
A half-cup of juice – either vegetable or fruit – is a serving.
A half-cup of cooked leafy greens is one serving. Since greens lose so much water and volume during the cooking process, you need to eat more raw greens to equal the same nutritional value. So a serving of raw greens is one cup.
And finally, on the flip-side, a quarter-cup of dried fruit (eg. raisins, dried apricots etc) constitutes a serving. Dried fruit is concentrated (the water has been removed), so you don’t need as much to have the same nutritional value as fresh fruit.
So how to get it all in? Here’s a sample day:
Breakfast: cereal or oatmeal with a half-cup of berries or small banana. Have with a 4oz glass of juice. (2 servings fruit)
Morning snack: medium piece of fruit (eg. an apple or an orange) or a 125mL fruit cup. (1 serving fruit)
Lunch: a sandwich with half a cup of veggies inside (eg. tomatoes, cucumbers, sprouts), and a half-cup serving of carrots with hummus or dip. (2 servings vegetables)
Afternoon snack: Home-made trail mix with nuts, high-fibre cereal and 1/4 cup raisins (1 serving fruit)
Dinner: Have 1 cup of a starter salad or vegetable soup. Have some pasta with lots of veggies added to the sauce (eg. tomatoes, mushrooms, peppers). Have a half-cup serving of steamed broccoli or asparagus on the side. (3 servings vegetables)
Evening snack: a parfait with yogurt, a half-cup of mixed fruit, a little granola and a touch of honey. (1 serving fruit)
That’s a day with 10 servings of fruits and vegetables, and with the quantities at each meal and snack kept fairly small. There’s no need to have quite so much variety; one can simply have just a little more at each meal and still easily meet their intake goal. For example, have 3/4-1 cup portions instead of half-cup …those 7-10 servings will be reached in no time.
A word on variety, though. Different nutrients have different effects on the body, and no single fruit or vegetable has everything we need, so it is important to eat a varied diet. Your best bet is to choose a variety of colours – each one is evidence of a different phytonutrient. Dietitians of Canada suggests having at least one serving of a dark green vegetable (eg. spinach, romaine lettuce, broccoli etc) and one serving of a deep orange or red fruit or vegetable (carrots, squash, red pepper) each day. I would take that a step further and encourage you to have as many colours as you can, including green, orange, blue/purple, red, and even white.
The bottom line is, if you make a point of having a fruit or vegetable with each meal or snack, reaching Canada’s Food Guide targets is not a difficult task. Make those fruits and vegetables as colourful as you can, and you’ll be well on your way towards optimal nutrition and health.
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