Foods rich in fruits and vegetables offer vital nutrition. Fresh, frozen, and canned produce all provide essential benefits for our overall well-being. Add fruit or spinach to your morning smoothie for added nutrition, or serve up a dish filled with vegetables at dinnertime.
1. Weight Loss
Eating more fruits and vegetables is a fantastic way to lose weight by decreasing calorie consumption. Fruits contain few calories, while many vegetables contain fiber that will make you feel full. Studies show that eating more fruits and vegetables is linked with lower body weight as well as decreased risks for heart disease, high blood pressure, and cancer. One recent study even demonstrated that women and men who increased their fruit and vegetable consumption lost more weight over time compared to those who did not increase their intake as part of a weight-loss regimen.
Add berries to your oatmeal, blend spinach or kale into a smoothie, and prepare vegetable-focused dishes such as ratatouille or stuffed bell peppers for dinner—these all count toward meeting the recommended daily servings! Remember that fruits and vegetables of any sort count toward reaching this goal.
2. Heart Health
Diets rich in fruits and vegetables are linked to reduced risks of cardiovascular diseases, like coronary heart disease. The heart is an organ in the chest that pumps blood from its veins to the lungs for oxygen-rich air intake.
Fruits and vegetables provide essential nutrients that help reduce inflammation, cholesterol levels, and blood pressure. Furthermore, they may contain plant compounds, which protect against some diseases, including cancer. Add fruits and vegetables to each of your meals and snacks each day, without classifying them into categories such as orange or dark green; all contain essential vitamins and minerals that provide essential benefits.
3. Cancer Prevention
Diets rich in fruits and vegetables provide essential vitamins and nutrients that promote health and help lower the risks of cancer, heart disease, and other chronic illnesses. Cancer is a disease caused by mutations to genes, which allows cells to divide uncontrollably and proliferate unpredictably, eventually becoming cancerous and leading to tumor formation.
Diets rich in fruits and veggies may help lower your risk of cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and other chronic illnesses. Eating fresh, frozen, canned, dried, and 100% juice counts toward reaching your recommended daily intake.
4. Immune System Strengthening
The immune system is an intricate network, and scientists still have much to learn about how diet, exercise, age, and psychological stress all interact to influence immunity. While herbs and supplements appear to boost immune function in some instances, no evidence has shown they reduce COVID-19 risk or severity.
As with any army, immune system armies rely heavily on excellent nutrition. Eating plenty of fruits and vegetables (with plenty of fluid intake!) is essential to strengthening the body’s natural defenses against germs.
5. Digestive Health
Eating a diet rich in fruits and vegetables is essential to maintaining optimal digestive health. These fruits and veggies contain fiber, folate, vitamin C, and potassium that can help combat common digestive ailments such as acid reflux or constipation.
Eat more fresh fruits and vegetables by serving or cooking them in new ways to retain nutrients while not adding excess fat or sugar. Frozen or canned options that come packed in water or natural juice without additional sugars and sodium are another beneficial choice; choose various colors so your body receives all necessary plant chemicals!
6. Energy Boost
Eating a variety of food provides sustained energy throughout the day. Although all foods provide energy to our bodies, choosing whole foods such as fruits and vegetables over refined sugars and beverages is especially important.
Fruits that provide energy boosts include bananas, mangoes, pomegranates, watermelons, and black sapote (commonly referred to as chocolate pudding fruit). Leafy greens such as spinach, kale, and collard greens contain magnesium to promote muscle function. Try including these foods in smoothies, and use healthy cooking methods like steaming, grilling, or roasting to preserve their nutritional benefits.
7. Stronger Bones
Fresh fruits and vegetables contain calcium, vitamin D, magnesium, and potassium—essential for bone health—in abundance, providing nearly half your daily requirements in one glass of milk alone.
Add cottage cheese and dark leafy greens to your diet for an increase in calcium intake; one cup of cooked collard or kale greens provides over 800 milligrams. Avoid processed, canned, and salt-laden foods, which cause calcium loss from your body. Aim to consume five portions of various fruits and vegetables each day (about 80 g).
8. Reduced Risk of Diabetes
Fruits and vegetables can help lower your risk of diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, and some forms of cancer while helping you maintain a healthier weight.
Always include fruits and vegetables at every meal and snack, and aim to fill half your plate with them, while limiting intake of foods high in fat, salt, or sugar. If you’re having difficulty eating enough fruits and veggies, add them to breakfast (such as berries, bananas, or yogurt) or use them in snacks like fruit smoothies. Keep pre-cut fruits or vegetables at eye level in your refrigerator, and choose vegetable-centric dishes for lunch and dinner (like ratatouille or vegetable stir-fry), using colorful produce for variety!
9. Improved Mental Health
Studies involving large samples from diverse populations demonstrated that eating more fruits and vegetables was linked with higher levels of mental well-being independent of factors like age, weight, gender, education level, occupation status, or household income.
Studies revealed that raw fruits and vegetables were significantly more strongly associated with mental health than cooked or canned food, possibly because cooking and canning degrade the nutrient content of food products. Numerous studies have highlighted the positive influence of particular fruits and vegetables, such as bananas, apples, citrus fruits, berries, cucumbers, and green leafy vegetables, on mental health—including flourishing, life satisfaction, happiness, and self-reported well-being.
