More Fruits and Vegetables

If all the pre-cut vegetables and fruits in the grocery store and news stories about the importance of produce for health has led you to believe that you're the only one not eating many vegetables and fruits, relax. Once again, a study shows that most Americans aren't, even though relatively minor changes in increasing fruits and vegetable consumption could pay off big in good health.

The latest study suggesting we're still more talk than action when it comes to eating fruits and vegetables compares findings over the last 20 years from NHANES, a large federal diet and health survey. Nutrition experts urged us to aim higher when results from the 1988 to 1994 NHANES showed that among Americans ages 40 to 74, only 42 percent met the minimum recommendation of at least five servings of vegetables and fruits daily. Instead of increasing, the numbers are actually dropping, which is a worrying sign.

It is important to include fruits and vegetables in your diet for a number of reasons, but from a dieter's point of view, they have two main positives:

They fill you up making you less likely to want to reach for high calorie snacks

They help to reignite a sluggish metabolism meaning your body will start burning more calories

Of course there are the additional heath aspects that add vital nutrients and dietary fiber to your diet as well as including some very powerful disease fighting compounds. These include things such as antioxidants and other cancer-fighting properties that you are not getting when you omit fruits and vegetables from your diet.

You might also be interested in the cost in terms of hard cash. Fresh fruit and vegetables cost a lot less than frozen foods or pre-packed ready meals. For the sake of doing a little work in the kitchen (that's the place where you keep the fridge...) and preparing your own meals from fresh ingredients, you can have a naturally healthy diet without doing too much else.

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