Most Americans Don’t Eat Enough Fruits and Veggies
A recent report released by the Centers for Disease Control found that adults and teens are nowhere near where they’d like them to be when it comes to eating fruits and vegetables. The CDC has set a goal for 2010 that 75% of Americans will be eating two servings of fruits and 50% will eat three servings of veggies a day. Even when counting servings of juice, both adults and teens fell far behind the desired levels.
Adult eating habits have not changed much since a 2005 survey, despite all the news about the power of antioxidants, prevalent in vegetable and fruits to support health and prevent heart disease, stroke, cancer and other degenerative conditions. Only 33% got two servings of fruits a day (including juice) and 27% ate three servings of vegetables. Nine out of ten teens failed to meet the goal.
Not only are people not getting valuable, health-sustaining nutrition, if they’re not eating fruits and vegetables, they’re filling up on breads, meats, poultry, dairy and sweets. No wonder we’ve got an obesity problem.
It’s not like we don’t know what we’re supposed to be eating. We just don’t do it. Or we do it infrequently.
While it’s always good to try to increase your servings of healthy whole foods, if you know you’re not meeting those minimum standards every day (or not even close) it’s important to support your diet with a quality multivitamin that supplies you with the antioxidants, vitamins and minerals you may be sorely missing.
Here’s a challenge to check your own fruit and veggie consumption for a week. Put five rubber bands on your left wrist. Every time you eat a serving of fruit or veggies, move a rubber band to your right wrist. Log your status at the end of every day. (While servings vary, a good rule of thumb is a ½ cup of fruit or veggies or a cup of salad greens.)
The Anti-Aging Bottom Line: Eating plenty of fruits and veggies has been proven to reduce the risk of numerous chronic diseases. But unfortunately, many people simply don’t get enough. Take a comprehensive daily multivitamin to make up for deficiencies in your diet. Also consider incorporating concentrated sources of phytonutrients into your daily routine, such as our Superfruit Elixir™ or Super Green Foods™ powder to ensure that you are getting what you need to fight disease.
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