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Eating more fruits and vegetables reduces your risk for heart disease, stroke, and some cancers, and–when you eat them instead of high-calorie foods–helps you avoid gaining weight.
Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2015-2020, eighth edition.
Eating more fruits and vegetables lower your risk of having a heart attack or a stroke.
USDA Nutrition Evidence Library, Subtopic: Vegetables/Fruits, available at
www.nel.gov.
Eating more vegetables can help lower your blood pressure.
USDA Nutrition Evidence Library, Subtopic: Vegetables/Fruits, available at
www.nel.gov.
Eating more fruits and vegetables may reduce your risk of some cancers.
Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2015-2020, eighth edition. Associations between dietary components and health, available
here.
Eating more fruits and vegetables may reduce your risk of some cancers particularly colon cancer.
Miller PE, Lesko SM et al. Dietary patterns and colorectal adenoma and cancer risk: a review of the epidemiological evidence. Nutr Cancer 2010’62:413-424.
Eating more fruits and vegetables may reduce your risk of some cancers… [like] breast cancer.
Brennan SF, Cantwell MM et al. Dietary patterns and breast cancer risk: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Am J Clin Nutr 2010;91:1294-1302.
Eating more fruits and vegetables may help you avoid gaining weight and reduce your risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
USDA Nutrition Evidence Library, Subtopic: Minerals, available at
www.nel.gov.
Vegetables are important sources of many nutrients, including dietary fiber, potassium, vitamin A, folate, iron, and other vitamins.
Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2015-2020, eighth edition. Food Groups, available
here
Diets rich in dietary fiber can reduce your risk of heart disease.
Wu Y, Qian Y et al. Association between dietary fiber intake and risk of coronary heart disease: a meta-analysis. Clin Nutr 2015;34:603-611.
Eating more folate reduces a woman’s risk of having a child with a brain or spinal cord defect.
USDA Nutrition Evidence Library, Subtopic: Vitamins, available at
www.nel.gov.
Potassium helps you maintain a healthy blood pressure.
USDA Nutrition Evidence Library, Subtopic: Vegetables/Fruits, available at
www.nel.gov.
Iron is needed to protect against anemia.
Lopez A, Cacoub P, Macdougall IC, Peyrin-Biroulet L. Iron deficiency anemia. Lancet 2015. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(15)60865-0
Americans on average eat only about half of as many servings of vegetables as health experts recommend.
Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2015-2020, eighth edition. A closer look at current intakes and recommended shifts, available
here
More than four in five Americans do not eat enough vegetables, making veggies the most under-consumed of all recommended foods.
Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2015-2020, eighth edition. Current eating patterns in the United States, available
here
In the Rapides Foundation Service Area, according to a survey in 2013, only 30% of adults eat three or more servings of vegetables a day.
The Rapides Foundation. Community Health Needs Assessment, available
here.
The leading causes of death are heart disease, stroke, and cancer – all diseases that eating more vegetables may prevent.
The Rapides Foundation. Community Health Needs Assessment, available
here.
Rates of heart disease, cancer, and stroke are higher in Louisiana than in the United States as a whole.
The Rapides Foundation. Community Health Needs Assessment, available
here.
Health experts recommend that an adult on a 2,000 calories a day diet eat at least 2 ½ “cup-equivalents” of vegetables every day.
Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2015-2020, eighth edition. Appendix 3. USDA food patterns: Healthy U.S.-Style eating pattern, available
here
People such as physically active adult men taking in 3,000 or more calories a day should eat at least 4 “cup-equivalents” of vegetables per day.
Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2015-2020, eighth edition. Appendix 3. USDA food patterns: Healthy U.S.-Style eating pattern, available
here
The size of “cup-equivalents” depends on the vegetable: a 1/2 cup portion of green beans, or a 1 cup portion of raw spinach each counts as ½ cup-equivalent. Most people who eat vegetables three times per day will end up eating three or more “cup-equivalents” per day.
Moore LV, Dodd KW et al. Using behavioral risk factor surveillance system data to estimate the percentage of the population meeting US department of agriculture food patterns fruit and vegetable intake recommendations. Am J Epidemiol 2015;181:979-988.
There are five vegetable subgroups: dark green, red & orange, legumes (beans and peas), starchy, and other.
Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2015-2020, eighth edition. Food Groups, available
here
Each of the vegetable subgroups contributes different combinations of nutrients, making it important to eat veggies from all the subgroups.
Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2015-2020, eighth edition. Food Groups, available
here
Cut down on refined grains, such as white bread, crackers, snack cakes, corn and wheat tortillas, and white rice.
Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2015-2020, eighth edition. Food Groups, available
here
Cut down on meats, especially processed meats.
Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2015-2020, eighth edition. Food Groups, available
here
Meats are often high in saturated fats. Red meat and processed meat have been linked to colon cancer.
https://www.iarc.fr/en/media-centre/pr/2015/pdfs/pr240_E.pdf