How many fruits and vegetables should you eat

It’s good to eat lots of fruits and vegetables It is unlikely that anyone will dispute this. But how many fruits and vegetables you should really eat in order to stay healthy and stay in shape for a long time is a question that cannot be easily answered. That’s why I want to meet her in this article.

Whether you are losing weight and defining your muscles, gaining muscle mass, or simply wanting to get fit and in shape, it is possible, it is always important and wise to eat enough fruits and vegetables.

Five servings a day, which are often recommended in this context, are definitely a good start. Especially when you consider that, according to modern research, even this amount is not reached by 90% of the Western population. In addition, these recommendations are neither precise nor sufficient in terms of quantity.

For this reason, I would like to give you clear, understandable and, above all, implementable recommendations in this article, based on current knowledge, research and my own experience. While I am focused on active people, guidance and experience should ultimately provide a good orientation for everyone. Even if you want to be athletic, you are in the right place.

Why fruits and vegetables in general

Many people know that they should eat fruits and vegetables regularly. However, they often never knew why. They know that they contain important vitamins and other ingredients, but they do not know how important they are for our body. This often only becomes apparent to them when they have to deal with the consequences of (severe) deficiency symptoms.

Don’t worry, I don’t want to force you to study biochemistry here, just so you can better understand the importance of fruits and vegetables in your diet. The fact is that we humans could not live without vitamins, minerals and trace elements from the outside. These trace elements are essential for all possible processes in our body. It goes from building cells to producing hormones and enzymes, from metabolic processes and functions of your muscles to activating your immune system.

Now I can tell you which elements are and which are the most important. Ultimately, however, this is only due to the most common deficiency symptoms. However, you usually have no problem with deficiency symptoms as long as you just eat enough vegetables and fruits.

Another positive effect is that fruits and vegetables usually contain a lot of water. Since many people also drink too little, extra fluids enter the body. You can also get fiber, which is so important and beneficial for your digestion through vegetables and fruits.

Both, in combination, lead to the fact that the consumption of large amounts of fruits and vegetables is extremely beneficial, especially in the diet. This is where you tend to fight nutritional deficiencies and hunger from reduced calorie intake.

Fruit or vegetables, which is more important?

This question is indeed often asked about nutrition. The premise is probably that people want to hear that they can somehow get around the (green) vegetables they don’t like. Ultimately, however, I believe both are important and useful in combination. Different types of fruits and vegetables have specific combinations of nutrients.

In theory, a sensible combination of vegetables avoids fruits. When in doubt, if you have to make a decision, you can avoid fruits, not vegetables. However, I would not recommend this. This requires some pretty careful planning. On the other hand, a varied blend allows you to get all the nutrients you need. And to be honest: who wants to voluntarily do without fruit ?!

There are some fruits and vegetables that provide a particularly high amount of valuable ingredients. They are often referred to as superfoods. Typically exotic and overpriced products are referred to in marketing. However, there are also real superfoods that grow in our regions and can be found in every supermarket. Blackberries, raspberries, broccoli, cabbage or beets (which, by the way, I really don’t like) are a few that I would like to mention here. They also appear on our daily superfood list.

How many fruits and vegetables to eat per day

But back to the original question about the correct amount. Due to the very different ingredients, you will already know that the actual requirement is also highly dependent on the types of fruits and vegetables consumed. However, since I want to make it as easy as possible for you, and you don’t have to worry about how much fruit and how many vegetables you should eat every day, I only recommend that you regularly add some of the “everyday superfoods” mentioned above to your … To turn on the power. In addition, I will come to a general recommendation based on current research and my own experience.

5 small meals a day is not enough

You may have heard of the 5-a-day campaign (Wikipedia article). The WHO campaign aims to educate people around the world with the support of regional health organizations and encourage them to consume at least 400 grams of fruits and vegetables that they have identified. This should result in (severe) deficiency symptoms not usually occurring. In addition, the risk of developing certain types of cancer was significantly reduced.

The German Nutrition Society recommends increasing the price to 650 grams over several years. This makes a lot more sense. For many, this would already lead to significant improvements in health, a stronger immune system, and an overall improved attitude towards life. However, this is still a very general recommendation and in many cases too low a recommendation.

How many fruits and vegetables really make sense

But how many fruits and vegetables makes sense? What is the optimal amount when it comes to supplying your body with the micronutrients it needs for so many things?

Not only do you don’t want overt deficiency symptoms, you also don’t want lungs that you might not even know that are limiting you. Also, you want to create the best conditions that you are capable of mentally and physically for as long as possible. Ultimately, you want above all to be as good as possible and to stay healthy for a long time.

In the meantime, many investigations have been carried out in order to develop a meaningful and at the same time generally applicable recommendation. I will list some of them at the end of the article. Based on known (more recent) results, I want to make the following recommendation:

• 10 grams of fruits and vegetables per day and a kilogram of body weight is a good guideline.
• About two thirds should be vegetables and one third fruit.
• Never wrong again, and you don’t have to take the distro too seriously.

If you take this to heart, then you are definitely on the right track and you will not have to resort to dietary supplements unnecessarily. However, I still recommend some smart supplements for people who exercise to create an optimal environment.

How often should you eat fruits and vegetables a day

I don’t think the recommendation of 5 servings spread out throughout the day is so wrong that it might make sense to give the body smaller doses over a longer period of time. The general argument here is that some substances are absorbed only to a limited extent and can only be stored for a limited period of time.

In fact, this storage period is sufficient for one meal per day. Plus, your body is a much more efficient processor than you think. It would also be sufficient to distribute vegetables and fruits over one or two meals a day. In my opinion, there are other practical reasons for distributing food over multiple periods.

It can be exhausting when you have to eat almost a kilo of fruits and vegetables in one meal to meet your daily needs because you haven’t eaten all day. A slice of fruit or vegetables such as carrots or peppers is also a great snack.

What are the best fruits and vegetables if you want to lose weight

Ultimately, in terms of micronutrients, it doesn’t matter when you choose fruits and vegetables whether you want to gain or lose weight. However, it can play a role in the diet, as some types of carbohydrates contain some unwanted calories.

My motto here is nobody should eat fruits because they are on a diet. However, you can of course pay attention to which fruits are especially suitable as low-carb fruits and which are not. However, with high-calorie fruits like bananas, I am also reluctant to diet, and I prefer to fill my stomach with berries.

I know it is difficult to meet your macronutrient needs. It is not easy to get enough omega-3 fatty acids and protein to make a protein deficiency to avoid and maximize muscle retention in the diet.

Now you should also pay attention to the correct fruit? But don’t worry, just choose the right varieties of fruit and don’t worry about how many calories you eat (and there aren’t many). The fact that you provide your body with the necessary micronutrients in your diet, the better!

Where do I buy fruits and vegetables

If someone asked me where I would like to buy fruits and vegetables, I would probably answer “in the weekly market.” Here I get good seasonal and regional quality and I usually have direct contact with the manufacturer. Especially for a local farmer, you can look at the conditions on the website and get an overview. It builds trust and a clear conscience when it comes to consumption.

However, I have to honestly admit that I mainly buy fruits and vegetables at the supermarket. With the full range, the selection is great, I always get what I want and the opening times are just much better. This gives me more flexibility.

I also have to admit that I buy a lot of fruits and vegetables that are already frozen and ready to eat (especially frozen berries, broccoli and imperial vegetables). It’s just practical in terms of storage and use. In fact, I’ve also found that frozen vegetables often taste fresher, and there are numerous studies that show that the ingredients are often even better than fresh fruits and vegetables. This is because it is frozen immediately after harvest.

Delivery of fruits and vegetables

In the meantime, I also started delivering my purchases regularly. It’s convenient, I save time (for me it’s about two hours a week), annoying transfer, and it’s not much more expensive. The Rewe delivery service delivers my purchases to me on the fourth floor, and I can also set a delivery time so I can be safe at home.

When the service was new, I was especially skeptical about fruits and vegetables. After all, you can choose the best things in the supermarket. Until now, I’ve always had good things. This is, of course, also because things tend to come straight from the warehouse and don’t even end up in the grapple rack and are touched by everyone. It doesn’t really matter for frozen things anyway. Here I have the advantage that the goods are shipped chilled.

Greens are my insurance against lack of fruits and vegetables

Sometimes I have stressful days, I travel a lot and a lot, and sometimes I just can’t or just find it difficult to eat enough fruits and vegetables. Of course, I always try to benefit from it and also eat a lot of fruits and vegetables with my meals, but I often don’t get my optimal supply.

For this reason, I have some kind of insurance against the lack of plant foods. I take a green cocktail every morning. In addition to concentrated fruit and vegetable powders, it also contains various other concentrated superfoods. This includes algae and mushrooms, which, among other things, are very beneficial for the immune system and otherwise are not part of my regular diet.

Every morning with my omega-3 capsules * and vitamin D * I take this green shake. … A normal serving corresponds to approximately 200-300 g of fruits and vegetables in terms of micronutrient content. This way I get a small buffer at the start of the day.

Your conclusion on fruits and vegetables

It is important to eat enough fruits and vegetables, you probably knew about this even before reading this article. I hope I was able to help you better understand why this is happening and how often, how much and which fruits and vegetables are best to eat.

Try to keep 10 grams per kilogram of body weight per day and eat it throughout the day. Then you will need fewer dietary supplements and supplements to create the ideal conditions for the long-term fitness and healthy body you want.

Green vegetables and berries are especially valuable. If you stick with the crowd and have some variety, don’t limit yourself. If you like things better than others, eat a little more of them. It is important that you manage to get the amounts. It’s really hard if you force yourself to eat 250 grams of spinach every day when you really hate it.

Of course, it is especially important to start healthy shopping immediately. You can only eat enough of them if you have enough fresh fruits and vegetables in the house. If you can and want to buy this from the marketplace, that’s great. However, from a purely nutritional point of view, there is nothing against buying frozen fruits and vegetables at the supermarket and storing them in the freezer.

Also, it says absolutely nothing about insurance, such as shaking greens * in the morning if the day doesn’t go as expected.

Regards

And don’t forget: your health is your health!