Eating properly sized servings of all the foods, as recommended by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, benefits your health. To eat a balanced diet, you need not only fruits and vegetables, but also dairy, grains and meat or beans. Understanding how many servings of fruits and vegetables you need can help you meet your daily intake goals.
Consumption and Terms
The 2010 Dietary Guidelines indicate that most Americans do not eat enough vegetables or fruits. Instead of consuming about 2 cups of fruits and 2 1/2 cups of vegetables every day, most Americans eat about 1 cup and 1 1/2 cups, respectively. The original food pyramid focused on servings, but the current guidelines focus on cups and ounces rather than servings. The rationale for the shift in focus is because you can easily measure cups and ounces, while serving sizes can vary greatly. However, the current guidelines do offer serving size reference intakes, for those who prefer to monitor fruit and vegetable intake in servings.
Fruit Servings
A serving of fruit depends on the form in which you eat it. Types include dried, canned, fresh, frozen and juice. If you eat 1,800 calories a day, you need between four and five servings of fruit. Dried fruit such as raisins, banana chips, dried pineapple, prunes or dried apricots offer you one serving per 1/4 cup. Therefore, 1 cup of dried fruit, which equals four servings, could meet your fruit requirement for the day. A single serving of canned, frozen, chopped fruit or fruit juice equates to 1/2 cup. A medium-sized piece of whole fruit such as a banana, peach or apple counts as one serving. You could eat one pear, 1/2 cup of chopped grapes, 1/2 cup of canned peaches and 1/4 cup of raisins to meet your daily fruit requirement.
Vegetable Servings
As with fruit, the type of vegetable you eat dictates the serving size. On an 1,800-calorie diet, you should eat four to five vegetable servings. If you have a salad full of greens, 1 cup of greens gives you a single vegetable serving. If you consume either cooked or raw vegetables, each 1/2 cup of vegetables equals a single serving. Drinking 1/2 cup of vegetable juice gives you one vegetable serving. To meet your requirements, eat a variety of vegetables such as 1 cup of greens, 1/4 cup of carrots, 1/4 cup of peppers, 1/2 cup of steamed broccoli and 1/2 cup of juiced vegetables.
Strategies
Use a measuring cup when preparing both fruits and vegetables. Although 1/2 cup of fruit or vegetable juice counts as a serving, set a goal of eating mainly fresh fruit and vegetables. A study published in the April 2009 edition of the journal "Appetite" found that participants who ate a whole apple rather than juice or applesauce before a meal felt more satisfied and ate fewer calories during the subsequent meal. Use the fruits and vegetables in their raw or lightly cooked state, and avoid adding shortening, sugar or high-fat dressings and dips to healthy foods. Eating enough servings of low-calorie fruits and vegetables can help you feel full, and may help you avoid consuming high-calorie snacks such as chips or cookies.
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