Eat your fruits and vegetables. Americans just don't get enough. Chances are you've
heard that a time or two. But how much is enough? That's what one of our viewers wants
to know. Well, fruits and vegetables are super foods, and they are so good for you. They're
loaded with phytochemicals and disease preventing anti-oxidants, high in fiber, low in calories,
virtually no fat. Most people, who get plenty of fruits and vegetables, have diets that
are lower in calories, and have a reduced risk for chronic diseases. So, it's the reason
the new dietary guideline says make half your plate fruits and vegetables. But, exactly
what do you need? It depends on your age and your sex and your activity level. But, if
we use the reference standard, that would be a 2,000 calorie diet, it would be 9 servings
a day. I know that sounds like a lot, but I'm going to tell you what a serving is. That's
the equivalent of 2 cups of fruit and 2 and a half cups of vegetables. That's the average
that most people are going to need. The servings, 9 servings sound a lot, but one serving could
be, this is dried fruit. Dried fruit you only get a quarter of a cup, so that's one, one
small serving. When it comes to 100 percent fruit or vegetable juice, it's a half a cup.
So, that's a small, it's a relatively small serving. Here's I have a sample of a half
a cup and a whole cup. So, if you think of these, a whole cup you would use for things
like greens, but most fruits and vegetables are going to be a half cup. So, that's easy
to double that and have more than one. So, if you had a cup of fruit and cup of vegetables
at lunch, and at dinner, you're almost there. You only need a half a cup more. So, when
it comes to fruit, a small fruit is probably one serving. A larger fruit, like this large
pear, would be two servings. So, think color. Work it into your diet. Let the healthfulness
of fruits and vegetables squeeze out the less desirable and each and every meal, and every
snack, try to make sure you have fruits and vegetables so you can have your 4 and a half
cups a day.