Fruits & Vegetables In The Diet

It's sometimes hard to obey nutritional directives when you don't understand the reasoning behind them. You know you should be eating plenty of fruits and vegetables, but do you know why? Educating yourself about the numerous benefits of fresh produce can help motivate you to take a jaunt to the produce stand to reap the nutrient-rich bounty that awaits you.

Heart Disease

Americans are dying in record numbers from their own dysfunctional cardiovascular systems. In some cases the solution to this may be as simple as dropping that hamburger and reaching for a peach. Saturated fats are a major contributor to heart disease. When you consume saturated fats, which are found in animal products like meat, butter and cheese, the excess fat can circulate in your bloodstream, harden your arteries and lead to heart attack and stroke. Fruits and vegetables contain none of this nasty, artery-clogging junk. In fact they contain chemicals called phytosterols, which the American Heart Association explains can help reduce fat deposits in your arteries and decrease your risk of heart disease.

Obesity

To put it bluntly, the United States has become a nation of fat people. According to the Brookings Institute, over 66 percent of American adults are overweight, and at least 33 percent are obese. This reality affects both the individuals beset by obesity and the society that they live in, in terms of medical costs, productivity declines and mortality rates. Fruits and vegetables offer an alternative to foods that contribute to obesity. According to EurekAlert!, eating low energy density foods, meaning foods that have a low calorie-to-volume ratio, can help fight obesity. Fruits and vegetables are generally low in calories due to their high water content. Their low calorie-to-volume ratio can help fill your belly without making you fat.

Cancer

The scary C-word that nobody wants to hear falling from their doctor's lips is an all-too-frequent reality for Americans. Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the U.S., but Hai Liu Rui of the Department of Food Science at Cornell University states that diets high in fruits and vegetables can reduce your cancer risk. Plant phytosterols are believed to be behind the cancer fighting effects of fresh produce. Over 5,000 of these bioactive non-nutrients have been discovered, but the phytosterol frontier is a new and largely unexplored area of nutritional science. Rui suggests that these helpful compounds are best consumed in the form of whole fruits and vegetables rather than as a nutritional supplement.

Considerations

If you want to reward your body with the benefits of fruits and vegetables, eat them as close to their natural, unprocessed state as possible. Fruit juices are not a good substitute for whole fruit, as they are low fiber and high in sugar and calories. Cooking produce can strip it of some of its nutrients, and added fats and sugars can further decrease the benefits of fruits and vegetables. The U.S. Department of Agriculture states that if you're eating a 2,000 calories daily, you should consume at least 2 c. of fruit and 2.5 c. of vegetables per day.