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What is your daily intake of vegetables & fruit?

Fruit and vegetables are good for you. You know that and probably, your parents, grandparents and teachers told you so too! Yet, when it comes to eating fruit and vegetables, not all of us eat enough each day. Here are some tips to help you meet the recommended number of servings each day.

Based on a poll of 266 Abbott parents | Start Date: 13 ^rd November 2009 | End Date: 30 ^th December 2009

Know Your Fruit and Vegetables Goals

We may have a vague idea of how much fruit and vegetable to eat each day. Most Singaporeans will tell you "2+2"! But, probe a little deeper and many of us do not know what 1 serving actually equates to. Some others believe that because fruit and vegetables are good for you, you can eat them in large amounts or replace all other food with these great choices. Overeating fruit and vegetables can also displace many other nutritionally important foods from your diet.

To even have a chance to get the best of fruit and vegetables, we need to know what to choose and how much to choose each day. Here's what you should aim for:

Quality Counts

Vegetables

• Get some green leafy vegetables every day. Top them up with other brightly coloured vegetables – orange, purple, white and yellow too!
• In addition, vary your choices as each type of vegetable is a bountiful source of some valuable and unique nutrients.
• Eat some fresh vegetables too as they deliver almost all the nutrients as nature designed them to.
• If you prefer cooked vegetables, cook them lightly to conserve nutrients. In fact, steaming vegetables helps them retain nutrients better than other methods of cooking. But, before you look too sad as you do enjoy your stir-fried vegetables, rejoice that some nutrients are more bioavailable when cooked with fat – aren't you glad for the carotenoids!
• If you do cook vegetables in excess water, retain the stock and use in soups and sauces to get those precious food components which have leached into the broth.

Fruit

• Aim for variety. Get some citrus fruit each day as they are great sources of vitamin C. Also, go for the many colours – red, yellow, orange, purple, blue and more. The colour pigments deliver many plant components that are proving to be protective to health.
• Pure fruit juice is good but whole fruit is better as it comes with the fibre.
• Eat fruit fresh, cut just before eating and eat with the skin, if the skin is edible.

Aim For The Right Quantity

Vegetables – Aim for 2 servings

A serving of vegetables is defined by the Health Promotion Board to be ¾ mug (250 ml) cooked leafy vegetables (100g), ¾ mug cooked non-leafy vegetables (100g), 150g raw leafy vegetables or 100g raw non-leafy vegetables.

Fruit – Aim for 2 servings

A serving of vegetables is defined by the Health Promotion Board to be 1 small apple, orange, pear or mango (130g), 1 wedge pineapple, papaya or watermelon (130g), 10 grapes or longans (50g), 1 medium banana, 1/4 cup (250 ml) dried fruit (40g) or 1 glass pure fruit juice (250ml).

Make It Easy To Achieve

• At breakfast, add fresh or dried fruit to cereal or complete your meal with a slice of fruit or a glass of fresh fruit juice.
• When ordering a rice meal, ask for 2 vegetables and 1 meat dish. If you prefer noodles, ask the hawker to add an extra portion of vegetables to the dish. Complete your meal with a slice of fresh cut fruit.
• When eating at home, aim for at least one serving of vegetables at lunch and one at dinner. Again, sweeten the end of your meal with fresh fruit.
• If you want a snack, reach for fresh or dried fruit or vegetable sticks

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For expert advice on adult nutrition, please contact Abbott Nutrition Careline at 6278–6220.

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