Eat more fruit and vegetables

We are constantly being told that we have to eat more fruits and vegetables, but this still leaves a lot of questions that need to be answered. Things like how many should we eat and which kinds leave a lot of people confused. Fortunately it is hard to go wrong with fruits and vegetables so the best advice that you can get is to eat lots and don't worry too much about if you are eating the right kind or too much.

The main reason that you want to eat more fruits and vegetables is that they contain the nutrients that your body needs to function properly. In particular they are full of vitamins that you can't get from any other source. These vitamins are critical if you are going to remain healthy so you are going to need to make sure that you are getting enough of them. Fruits and vegetables also contain antioxidants which help to get rid of the bad stuff in your body which is another important part of keeping you healthy.

The other reason that you need to make sure that you eat lots of fruits and vegetables is that they are a low fat and low calories way to fill you up. Most people find that the hardest part of keeping the weight off is that they are hungry all of the time. The reason for this is that when they eat calorie dense foods they have to strictly limit the amount that they eat. Since fruits and vegetables are high in fiber and low in calories they will fill you up without providing a lot of calories.

While it is important to eat lots or fruits and vegetables you also have to realize that some are better for you than others. There are no bad fruits or vegetables so you don't have to worry about that but some of them do have more nutrients than others. As a general rule the darker the color of the vegetable the more nutrients it will have so these are the ones that you are going to want to eat the most of. You are also going to want to eat more vegetables than fruits. Fruits contain fructose which is a form of sugar, it is best to limit the amount of this that you eat.

The question then becomes just how many fruits and vegetables should you eat. The recommended amount is five to nine servings a day; however you will want to be more towards the higher number. You really can't eat too many so you should eat as much as you want to. A serving size can be hard to determine, in some cases it is fairly straightforward, one apple is a serving. In other cases it is more difficult, usually you can consult the label to determine what the standard serving size is.