The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend filling ½ your plate with vegetables and/or fruits (we discuss fruits in another article). Vegetables provide many nutrients to our body, such as vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and fiber.
The following are the five subgroups that make up the vegetable group:
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Red/Orange: tomatoes, red or orange bell peppers, carrots, sweet potatoes, pimento, acorn squash, and pumpkin.
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Dark Green: beet greens, bok choy, broccoli, collards, kale, mustard greens, spinach, turnip greens, romaine lettuce, and watercress.
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Beans/Peas/Lentils: chickpeas, black beans, black-eyed peas, brown peans, edamame, fava beans, kidney beans, navy beans, pinto beans, soybeans, and split peas.
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Starchy: corn, jicama, lima beans, green peas, white potatoes, water chestnuts, yam, and yucca.
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Other: artichokes, asparagus, Brussel sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, cucumber, eggplant, fennel, iceberg lettuce, mushrooms, okra, onions, bell peppers (not red or orange), radish, snow peas, summer squash, turnips, tomatillos, and sprouted mung beans.
Consuming a diet rich in vegetables has proven benefits such as a reduced risk for heart disease, heart attack, or stroke, protection against certain cancers, aid with weight and glucose management, and it can help to support a healthy digestive system. It is estimated that 90% of Americans do not meet the daily minimum recommendation for vegetable intake. Daily needs vary based on gender, age, activity level, and conditions. To make it easy, remember to strive for 5! Aim for a minimum of 5 servings of fruits and/or vegetables daily, making ½ of that (so approximately 2 to 3 of those servings) coming from vegetable sources.
A general rule of thumb is one serving of vegetables looks like the following:
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1 cup of raw or cooked vegetables.
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½ cup dried vegetables.
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8 ounces of vegetable juice.
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2 cups of leafy salad greens.