The Fruit of Our Labor: How much is enough?

  

There's consensus among dietary experts, that a cup of sliced or chopped fresh fruit or vegetables is enough to count as one serving. And there's agreement we need more than one serving. At a minimum, USDA experts recommend we each day have one and one-half cup of fruits and vegetables.

But health organizations like the American Heart Association, aren't as cautious about whether we, as individuals and families, can afford enough fruits and vegetables to help us fight for health; such groups sometimes tell us more than some news sources tell us — more of what we really need in our diets. These groups tell the truth about our total health needs, and leave it up to us to budget and to find help we may need to be able to eat much more than one and one-half cup!

The American Heart Association, for example, says we need at least four to five servings of fruits and vegetables each day. That's four to five chopped cups worth of fruits and vegetables that are fresh.

 

A cup of sliced or chopped fresh fruit or vegetables is one serving. But we say one-half cup is a serving, if the fruit or vegetable is cooked, or if it's preserved in a can or air-tight container.

 

 

What is one serving?

If a fruit or vegetable is fresh, we count one chopped cup as a serving. But if the fruit or vegetable is cooked, or if it is preserved and sold in a can or air-tight package, a half cup is counted as one full serving.

 

If the fruit is dried, we should only count a fourth cup as one serving of the fruit.

 

If the fruit is a concentrated juice such as most refrigerated orange juice, we should know there is up to four times more fruit juice in a cup of that juice than in the actual fruit; so an 8-ounce cup of concentrated, refrigerated juice should count as four servings of fruit. A half cup of that juice should count as two servings of fruit. And one-fourth cup of that juice should count as one serving, like with dried fruits.

 

If we're making our own fresh juice, from raw fruit, one cup of that raw fruit juice is one complete serving. (And it may take four or five medium or small oranges to make that one-cup serving! Therefore, a small or medium orange is one-fifth to one-fourth cup. It takes four or five medium or small oranges to make one serving of fruit; although, a large orange may make a one-cup serving.)

 

We also can recognize that larger fruits, such as large grapefruits, have more juice than small and medium oranges. In case of a large grapefruit, we can count half the grapefruit as a one-cup serving.

 

One medium banana is not as dense as some other fruits. So, the whole medium banana counts as a one-cup serving.

 

Sixteen grapes count as a one-cup serving. And, from there, we can estimate how many berries and other fruits make one serving.

 

Many people have different slogans for encouraging us to eat enough fruits and vegetables. One doctor who is a fruit and vegetable enthusiast, tells patients, "Eight is great. Nine is divine."

 

But to be a little more realistic about it all, I will say

 

• One's not enough.

• Three is thrifty.

• And five is fine.

 

Five servings of fruits and vegetables a day can be something like

 

• A cup of chopped apples and a half cup of concentrated orange juice with your oats at breakfast. That's one medium apple (which is one serving), and 4 ounces of concentrated orange juice (which is two servings).

• A cup of spinach leaves on a sandwich at lunch.

• And a banana at dinner, if there's only a tiny amount of broccoli in your casserole!

 

If you want to upgrade to a "nine is a blessing" routine, you can try a habit of your own, like this:

 

• One cup (8 ounces) of orange juice (which is four servings) with your oats at breakfast.

• A cup of spinach leaves (which is one serving) on a sandwich — and half an apple (which is half a serving) — at lunch.

• Half a banana (which is a half serving) as a snack while making dinner.

• And, with your fish dinner: a half-cup of canned or cooked corn (which is one serving); a medium baked sweet potato (which is one serving); and a cup of steamed broccoli (which is one serving, because the steamed broccoli isn't cooked down or concentrated the way some canned vegetables are).

 

Again, this goal of nine daily servings of fruits and vegetables is only, for example,

8 ounces of concentrated orange juice;

 

a cup of spinach leaves;

 

half an apple;

 

half a banana;

 

a half cup of cooked corn;

 

a medium baked sweet potato, and

a cup of steamed broccoli.

 

Whatever you decide from day to day, know that one serving’s not enough — and that it's kind of difficult to eat too many fruits and vegetables.

... Some of us tend to think our bodies give us a pretty good idea what we need and when we've had enough.

 

Sometimes, it helps to know a little more. Sometimes, it helps to see the forest more clearly, to help more of us value walking on path, even more.