Do You Eat Your Fruits and Vegetables Every Day?

What is the recommended daily servings of fruits and vegetables? Depending on age, gender, and calorie intake, a person should consume 1.5 to 2 cups of fruit and 2 to 3 cups of vegetables a day. WOW! That is a lot of apples and carrots. Now if you eat some with your breakfast, for a morning snack, some at lunch, some for an afternoon snack, some at dinner and some at a nighttime snack you can get your daily amount in. When you think about the size of your stomach, about the size of your fist, just one cup can fill you up without eating anything else. Unless you are a vegetarian or Vegan, you may want more than just fruits and vegetables at each meal. There is another factor regardless of portion size that needs to be considered. Are the fruits and veggies you are buying giving you what you need?

The larger vegetables of today actually have less nutrients in them than the smaller ones from the past. Why? Because they are made up of mostly dry matter (carbohydrates). The reason for the size increase is because consumers tend to buy the larger produce thinking they are getting more for their money. These enhanced vegetables have gone through the "genetic dilution effect", so even though they are bigger, they carry less nutrients. Also, growers use fertilizers to speed up the growth process so they can harvest more, more often. This means that the vegetables have less time to absorb the nutrients from the earth, the exact nutrients we are trying to get by eating them. This is done so that growers can get more yield each year from several harvest and make more money.

Now if you have the time to purchase fruits and vegetables and prepare them every day then the best way to go is organic. These types tend to cost more but you will get more out of them. These types of fruits and vegetables are typically grown naturally without the use of chemicals such as pesticides or fertilizer. You can usually find them in your local grocery store and farmers markets. They tend to not be as big as the other kind, but as I mentioned before, bigger is not better. Buying fresh means you need to consume them quickly or they go bad and you have just wasted a lot of money.

If you are like me and do not have the time to do this because of a super busy life with work and a child I highly recommend "Greens". I take this every day. Greens help balance your body's pH levels and give you the nutritional boost of 8+ servings of fruits and vegetables with every glass.

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