Health

How Many Servings, Again?

Some people say five servings of fruits and vegetables a day. Others say eight. Then there are those who stride the fence on the number seven. Exactly how many servings should we have, anyway?

The truth is that the vast majority of us don’t get nearly as many fruits and vegetables in our diet as we should. When you’re caring for children, the last thing you have time for is to make yourself a nice salad of field greens and baby spinach. Instead, you cram some spoonfuls of leftover macaroni and cheese in your mouth and call it a meal. After all, someone’s got to change the baby and clean up after the toddler and, well, you know the story. Eating healthy takes foresight and planning. Moms are great at this when it comes to their kids, not so much when it comes to their eating habits. Here are some easy tips that any busy mom can do.

The Logic of Veggies
It’s easier to implement a diet change if you know why you are doing it in the first place. Fruits and vegetables are an excellent source of investment calories. Investment calories are any calories that will give you lots of bang for your buck. For example, on one hand you have 100 calories of donut. First off, it’s small. It’s not enough to even whet your appetite. Then, there is no nutrition in it at all. It’s processed flour, stripped of any minerals and nutrients, and sugar, which brings you up and sends you plummeting right back down again. Those are empty calories. Now take 100 calories of carrots and broccoli. It’s a lot. It’s enough to leave you satiated for a while. It’s also full of fiber, vitamins, minerals, and nutrients. These are investment calories!

Count Your Blessings
With all of the hype about X amount of serving per day, food companies are hopping on the bandwagon, touting their products as “the equivalent of two servings of fruit and vegetables.” Watch out for this. The only form of fruit and vegetables that you want to count, are the ones that are in the form that nature intended. In other words, eat an apple. Don’t drink a cup of apple juice and expect to count that. When a food is processed it is stripped of all of its healthy enzymes, as well as most or all of its fiber and nutrients. Go for raw fruits and veggies, with a minimum of six servings. The more veggies the better. However, you may find that you enjoy them so much, you’ll want to up the count. Be my guest!