13 Servings

A few months ago I heard a speaker talk about fruits and veggies.  The point that resonated the most with me is that the suggested number of servings of fruits and veggies per day is 9-13. 

Nine to Thirteen.

Now you're likely sitting there a little perplexed, just as I was.  "No, wait!" your brain is saying.  Because it's likely that you, along with I and every other American has heard that we should be getting 5-7 servings of those items daily.  Want to know the truth?  The government knows that we are never going to get that many servings so they pare it down to 5-7 for us.  That's right.  They believe that we would never ever achieve that and therefore decided to set a smaller amount that we should be shooting for.

The sad thing?  Most Americans don't even get that 5-7.  And when they do, it's from sources like fruit/vegetable juices and are mostly fruit versus vegetable.

Check out this article from the Virginia Co-Op Extension about servings of fruit and suggestions on how to get more.

Check out this page from the same site about vegetables.

Cooking Light  has a great series on how to get more fruits and vegetables into your daily diet.

Lately I've been eating a lot of roasted vegetables.  I take whatever I have and chunk it up into 2 inch by 1 inch chunks.  Toss with a tiny bit of olive oil (just barely enough to coat).  Place on a sheet tray that's big enough to spread all the vegetables out so they're not touching.  The bake at 425 for 40-50 minutes.  They get lovely brown and caramelized.  The flavors intensify and t a certain extent this brings out the natural sugars and makes them "sweet".  My favorites lately are brussel sprouts, parsnips, carrots, red & yellow beets, cauliflower and red onion.  Although there really isn't a vegetable I don't like.

My challenge to you is this:  Take a week and plan out some meals that include fruits an vegetables.  Figure out a way to get at least 7 servings a day (and only 3 of those fruit, the rest vegetables).  Eat a new fruit/vegetable during the week and prepare an old fruit/vegetable a new way.