American Medical Association Family Medical Guide - American Medical Association [6]
Eat Five a Day for Better Health
We have all heard from experts that eating at least five fruits and vegetables each day is one of the most important things we can do for our health, but only one out of four of us is actually eating this amount. Fruits and vegetables provide a wide assortment of vitamins and minerals, including the antioxidant vitamins—vitamin C, the carotenoids (beta carotene, lycopene, and lutein), and vitamin E—which fight cell damage from free radicals, a major cause of aging and most chronic diseases. Fruits and vegetables also provide fiber, an essential nutrient that promotes healthy bowel function and helps lower the risk of heart disease and some types of cancer. Fruits and vegetables are so good-tasting and so good for you that you should try to consume as many as you can. Five servings a day is the minimum for keeping you healthy (10 a day is better). Here are some tips to help you get your daily dose of fruits and veggies:
• Have one or two servings of fruit at breakfast every day.
• Choose a fruit or vegetable for a snack.
• Have a salad at lunch.
• Stock up on dried, canned, and frozen fruits and vegetables.
• Serve more than one vegetable for dinner.
Eat your colors
Fruits and vegetables come in an array of colors, and the color of a food usually says something about its nutritional value. Each food color confers specific health benefits, so consuming a variety of fruits and vegetables provides the biggest health gains.
BLUES AND PURPLES
Blueberries, blackberries, purple grapes, plums, raisins, and eggplants give you:
• A reduced risk of some cancers
• A healthy urinary tract
• A sharp memory
• A long, healthy life
GREENS
Kiwi, honeydew melons, spinach, broccoli, romaine lettuce, kale, green peas, brussels sprouts, cabbage, and Swiss chard give you:
• Strong bones and teeth
• Good eyesight
• A reduced risk of some cancers
WHITES
Pears, apples, bananas, jicama, mushrooms, cauliflower, onions, and garlic give you:
• A healthy heart
• A good cholesterol profile
• A reduced risk of some cancers
REDS
Watermelon, strawberries, raspberries, cranberries, cherries, tomatoes, and radishes give you:
• A sharp memory
• A healthy heart
• A healthy urinary tract
• A reduced risk of some cancers
YELLOWS AND ORANGES
Oranges, grapefruit, peaches, cantaloupe, mangoes, pineapples, yellow and winter squash, carrots, and corn give you:
• A healthy heart
• A healthy immune system
• Good eyesight
• A reduced risk of some cancers
Reading Food Labels
Nutrition facts panel
The nutrition facts panel is the part of a food package label that lists serving size, the number of servings in the package, the number of calories in a serving, and the percent of daily values (which are the same as the recommended daily allowances) of many important nutrients—fats, carbohydrates, protein, cholesterol, fiber, sugar, sodium, vitamins A and C, and the minerals iron and calcium (no daily values have been set for protein and sugar).
What you can learn from food labels
1. To make it easy to compare different brands of the same food, all serving sizes are required to be the same.
2. This line shows the total calories in one serving and the number of calories from fat contained in the serving.
3. This section displays the amounts of different nutrients in one serving so you can easily compare the nutrient content of similar products and add up the total amounts of a given nutrient that you eat in a day.
4. The percent of daily values are indicated for each nutrient. Percent of daily values are based on a diet of 2,000 calories per day.
5. This area shows the percent of daily values for vitamins A and C and the minerals iron and calcium.