Fruits and Veggies: How Much is a Serving?

This week I want to focus on fruit and vegetable serving sizes. Many people use the general rule of thumb that a half cup of fruits or veggies equals one serving, but that isn't always the case.  You may be surprised to learn that one serving of an apple and one serving of an avocado look very different.  One whole medium apple equals just ONE serving, but if you ate a whole medium avocado you would be eating FIVE servings.  That's a big difference!

So, how can we be sure that we are really getting our five servings a day in?

This chart has a very comprehensive list of fruits and veggies and their serving sizes.

Here are a few common examples:
  
Fruits

• one banana
• six strawberries
• two plums
• fifteen grapes
• one apple
• one peach
• one-half cup of orange or other fruit juice

Vegetables

• five broccoli florets
• ten baby carrots
• one Roma tomato
• 3/4 cup tomato juice
• 3/4 cup vegetable juice
• half of a baked sweet potato
• one ear of corn
• three tablespoons of peas 

Are you getting enough greens (and reds and oranges and yellows)?  Well, keep this is mind, according to many experts 5 fruits and veggies a day is considered a MINIMUM. (Surprised?  I was too.) 

"Many nutrition and dietary experts suggest you eat from five to nine servings of fruits and vegetables every day. That is a total. Older or inactive women and smaller children need at least three servings of vegetables and two servings of fruit. Growing kids, teen girls, most men and active women should eat at least four servings of vegetables and three servings of fruit every day. Teen boys and active men should eat at least five servings of vegetables and four servings of fruit every day. Unfortunately many people fail to eat even the minimum suggested level of five servings of fruits or vegetables each day."

  So, when it comes to fruits and vegetables: EAT UP!


sources: about.com, usda, good life dietitians