Eat More Vegetables and Fruit To Lose Weight

by Darren

It’s no secret that people these days don’t eat enough vegetables. The recommended daily intake for people in the United States is 2 fruit portions and 3 vegetables portions. But people aren’t hitting that lowly target too often.

“We found that fruit and vegetable consumption patterns are low for all American adults and that there was no trend toward increased consumption between 1988 and 2002. In addition, minorities and poorer individuals were less likely to meet the guidelines. These findings raise concern because it has been shown that fruit and vegetable availability and quality is inadequate in disadvantaged communities,” said Sarah Stark Casagrande, lead author of the study and a graduate student in the Bloomberg School of Public Health’s Department of Epidemiology.

The numbers are almost shockingly bad, with a quarter of respondents saying they don’t eat any vegetables at all. It would not take a large stretch of the imagination to see that less people are eating the recommended amount of vegetables than ever before, and people weigh more than ever before. Yet year after year people search for the perfect way to lose weight, when one of the most obvious ways of eating is ignored.

The advantages of eating fruit and vegetables are many.

1) Fruit and vegetables are low in calories compared to meats and processed foods.
2) Fruit and vegetables have been shown to lower the chance of cancer.
3) The consumption of fruit and vegetables are almost always recommended for any weight loss campaign.

Fruit and vegetables are generally cheap, as well, and easy to prepare and clean up! The fact is, people who are out of the habit of eating much fruit and vegetables, and are overweight, need to look at the simple concept of replacing higher calorie foods with more portions of fruits and vegetables.