The Power of Produce

While many topics in the field of nutrition are routinely debated, none has more universal support than the importance of eating plenty of fruits and vegetables. People may argue over how they’re grown and whether they’re fresh, frozen or canned, but no one can dismiss their role in health maintenance and disease prevention. So why are so few Americans consuming the recommended five servings a day? It's important to keep these foods in your daily diet, even when you’re not trying to lose weight.

You were cajoled into eating them while still strapped into a high chair, then bribed when a toddler and nagged right through your teens. Still, meeting the goal of eating 2 cups of fruit and 2.5 cups of vegetables a day – the amount recommended for women between the ages of 19 – 30 years in the US Department of Agriculture’s www.MyPyramid.gov - is one most women don’t meet.

Findings from research sponsored by the Produce for Better Health Foundation (PBH) indicate that Americans are more knowledgeable than ever about the health benefits of eating more fruits and vegetables. These benefits include lowering the risks for heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, bone loss, certain cancers and weight gain. But this increased awareness has not been accompanied by increased intake.

According to government food consumption survey data, only forty percent of all Americans are consuming an average of five or more servings of fruits and vegetables a day, and this represents a decrease of 3.7% between 2000 and 2003. The data is skewed further downward if fried potatoes are removed from food intake records as a vegetable.

Knowledge ≠ Behavior

Consumers say the chief reasons they don’t eat as many fruits and vegetables as they know they should are because they’re:

• Inaccessible: So true in vending machines and fast-food outlets.

• Expensive: Not really, only when left to rot in the refrigerator.

• Inconvenient: They bruise & ooze.

• Hard to prepare: Did you always know how to program an iPod?

• Unpredictable: Bananas, never, melons maybe.

So when asked why French fries are the number one vegetable consumed in America, the answer is a no-brainer. French fries are:

• Accessible: Available at any highway intersection in the country.

• Inexpensive: Cheap, hot and ready to eat.

• Convenient: Just pull up to the drive-thru window.

• Easy: All you have to do is order the size you want.

• Predictable: They always taste the same --- mmmm good!

Meeting Your Quota

It’s already been established that people know fruits and vegetable are good for them, but they still are not eating enough for the reasons listed above. What will it take to overcome those obstacles? First and foremost, you need a good reason to make the effort to change the status quo.

Does feeling full without getting fat sound like a good reason for you to eat more fruits and vegetables? How about having regular bowel movements or fewer colds? Would knowing that your skin, hair and nails will be more vibrant get your attention? Maybe recognizing that once you’re a habitual user, your children will one day be the same? Whatever it takes, find something to motivate you or your old habits will prevail.

Once you have your own good reason to be a rabbit-food freak, go back to those obstacles and consider how you will defeat them. Here are some tips to help you get started:

BYO: Don’t leave home without fruits and vegetables to eat at school and work.

Mix ‘n Match: Use fresh frozen, canned, dried and juiced – any of these is better than none.

Create Combos: Add to other foods, like raisins on cereal, berries in yogurt, roasted peppers in a wrap.

Double Dip: Add chick peas to a salad (yes, peas and beans are vegetables), frozen mixed veggies to canned minestrone soup, sliced mushrooms to tomato sauce.

On the Side: Order a side-dish veggie whenever available in restaurants as a substitute for the starch.

Keeping Track

Another great way to stay focused on your goal to eat more fruits and vegetables is by having a way to measure your progress. To help you with this, the best new idea to come along since sliced breadfruit is Balance Bands. These are clever little bracelets you put on your right wrist every morning and move over to your left wrist as you eat each serving of fruits and vegetables throughout your day. Couldn’t be simpler, right? To read more about them or order your own starter set, log on to http://www.balancebands.com.

You can also create your own tally system or keep a diary to monitor your intake.

The important thing is to keep it interesting. When faced with the same old red delicious apple and bagged salad day after day, your imagination is sure to drift towards apple crumb cake and bagged chips. The produce selection in your market changes with the seasons, and so should what ends up in your shopping cart. And be sure to go for color and variety all year round.

The munching and crunching sound of people chewing their fruits and vegetables should be getting louder as you all go for your goal. Bon appetite!

Robyn Flipse, MS, RD

Author, Fighting the Freshman Fifteen

Available at www.FreshmanFifteenBook.com

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Editor's Note: Robyn would like to know: What sabotages your diet most when living back on campus?

Email us at feedback@universitychic.com with the subject line "Healthy Eating." The responses received will inform next month's Health and Nutrition column.

And if you have your own health-related question for Robyn, send her your query at our Ask the Experts form.

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