Monday, November 9, 2009

What is a serving size for fruits and veggies?

The United States Department of Agriculture sets a serving size for fruit or vegetables to be equal to about one-half cup. Greens like spinach and lettuce have a serving size equal to one full cup. One serving of sliced fruit is equal to one-half cup; however a single piece of fruit, such as an apple or an orange counts as one serving. How did the USDA decide that one-half cup is a serving size? The decision was based on the portion sizes that people typically eat, ease of use and nutritional content of fruits and vegetables.
Many experts suggest we need from five to nine servings of fruits and vegetables every day. That is a total. Older or inactive women and smaller children need at least three servings of vegetables and two servings of fruit. Growing kids, teen girls, most men and active women would eat at least four servings of vegetables and three servings of fruit everyday. Teen boys and active men should eat at least five servings of vegetables and four servings of fruit. Unfortunately many people fail to eat even five servings each day.
Here are some typical serving sizes for fruits and vegetables:
Fruits
one banana
six strawberries
two plums
fifteen grapes
one apple
one peach
one half cup of orange or other fruit juice Vegetables
five broccoli florets
ten baby carrots
one roma tomato
3/4 cup tomato juice
half of a baked sweet potato
one ear of corn
four slices of an onion You may notice that serving sizes on the Nutrition Facts Label of packaged fruits and vegetables are not always the same size as the one-half cup serving size that the USDA has set for the food pyramid. For example, some frozen vegetable blends may list the serving size as 3/4 cup, which would meet one and one half of your vegetable need for the day.
One serving of a fruit or vegetable juice is four ounces. V8 Fusion claims to meet one serving of fruit and one serving of vegetables in one eight ounce glass. A large glass may hold about 12 ounces, which would give you three servings of fruits and vegetables

1 comment:

  1. I'm so proud of all of you. Even Sweet Scott did so good this week. Way to work with your militant partner!! Mommy's proud of you. Too many perfect scores to keep up with. Dad's score for the week was 155-mostly because of water intake (He says there is water in coke) and his partner was out of town in a different time zone. Susan got 169 but the birthday was lots of fun. Here's to another great week. Love, Mom

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