Tag Archives: vegetables

Are you getting enough vegetables?

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After a month of “busting” nutrition myths it seems only fitting to end with Canada’s Food Guide. Thanks for reading all month and I hope that you’ll continue to read as I return to my regularly scheduled ranting.
Myth 20: It’s too hard to eat all the vegetables and fruit recommended in Canada’s Food Guide.
What Dietitians of Canada says:
“It’s easier than you think! Canada’s Food Guide recommends adults enjoy seven to 10 servings of vegetables and fruit each day. That might sound like a lot, but serving sizes are not very big. For example, a medium fruit or half a cup of vegetables is all it takes to get one serving…”
What I say:
It is hard to eat all the vegetables and fruit recommended in CFG. That’s why you see campaigns like 5 a Day. If it was easy then we’d be seeing more than half of all adult Canadians eating the recommended number of food guide servings but we’re not. In 2008, 46.7% of Canadians reported consuming vegetables and fruit five or more times a day (Stats Can). Keep in mind that the minimum recommended number of Food Guide servings per day is seven, not five. Imagine how much lower the number of Canadians meeting the actual recommendations would be! So, should we lower the number of recommended servings to better match Canadian diets, just like the physical activity guidelines did? Probably not, it’s good to aim high. Just don’t feel badly if you’re not eating eight servings of vegetables and fruit a day. I know that on most days I’m definitely not. Put away your food guide and try to focus on eating a balanced, primarily plant-based diet and you should be okay.

Is fruit too sweet a treat?

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Myth 29: Fruit has too much sugar to be healthy.
What Dietitians of Canada says:
“Fruit is a healthy choice. It’s true that fruit has naturally occurring sugar, but it is also chock full of vitamins, minerals and fibre that are important for good health. Choosing more vegetables and fruit, naturally sweetened by Mother Nature, can help you maintain your weight and reduce your risk of developing chronic disease. Enjoy whole, fresh, frozen or canned fruit each day. And aim to limit foods that are high in added sugars but low in nutrients, such as candies, cookies, chocolate treats and sweetened soft drinks. Satisfy your sweet tooth with fruit, like a baked apple or yogurt topped with berries.”
What I say:
I love how we offer ridiculous advice like snacking on an apple when you’re craving a cookie. I mean really, how many people find that this satisfies their sweet tooth? I know that if I’m craving chocolate, a piece of fruit is not going to cut it as a substitute. I think a better idea might be to have that piece of fruit and then allow yourself a small amount of what you’re really craving. That way you’ll be properly satisfied and getting some nutrients instead of eating that fruit, continuing to obsess about cookies and then eating considerably more than you would have if you’d allowed yourself just one in the first place. Anyway… Beside the fact that we dietitians sometimes dish out advice as if we’re completely virtuous eaters, there’s nothing all that wrong with DC’s myth bust. I would add that you should consume your fruit whole, rather than in juice form. You’ll be getting more fibre and less of a shot of sugar this way. Think of juice as an occasional treat or a medication for someone experiencing hypoglycemia, not as a regular way to get your fruit and vegetables in you. I also don’t think that fruit and vegetables should be lumped together on Canada’s Food Guide. You should be consuming more vegetables than fruit. I would suggest two servings of fruit a day, for an adult, and the rest as vegetables.

Fabulous fennel

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For many years fennel bulbs were one of those mysterious vegetables that I would see in the produce section at the grocery store and not give a second glance. I wish I’d given it a chance sooner but I’m glad that I found fennel eventually. Better late than never, right? Fennel is crunchy and slightly sweet. I love it thinly sliced in salads, or added to hearty winter stews, or risotto. It’s got a measly 14 calories per half cup, but it’s also got 23 mg of calcium, 190 mg of potassium, and 12 micrograms of folate, among other nutrients.

This Celery Root and Apple Salad with Hazelnut Vinaigrette is a delicious way to start off your relationship with fennel.

Don’t let pesky pesticides put you off organic

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It’s been all over the news today that pesticide residue was found on organic produce. I can’t say that this surprised me. To be honest, I was surprised that everyone else seems so surprised. I was also surprised that the percentage of contaminated produce was so small, only 23.6%. There are many ways in which organic produce can become contaminated with pesticides. Pesticides get into the water and soil and can contaminate produce in this way. There can also be contamination from spraying on neighbouring non-organic crops. According to reports, the contamination of this particular produce occurred post-harvest during storage. I’m not sure how that’s acceptable, perhaps it’s only necessary to grow crops without using pesticides to use the organic designation? That’s beside the point though. We’ve pumped so many hazardous chemicals into the environment that it’s amazing that anything is left uncontaminated. Babies are born with pesticides in their systems. We store pesticides in our body fat. A little pesticide contamination shouldn’t deter you from buying organic if that’s your prerogative. There are still many benefits to organic produce. For one thing, the more organic food that’s grown the fewer pesticides being added to the water and soil, that means that in the long run we’ll be wreaking less havoc on the environment. You’re also avoiding GMOs by choosing organic. Even if some organic produce is contaminated by pesticides, you’re still lowering your risk of exposure in comparison to “conventionally” grown crops. Purchasing organic produce doesn’t absolve you from needing to wash your fresh fruit and veggies anyway. Produce has come into contact with so many other possible contaminants during its journey to the grocery store and its time on the shelf that you should always wash it before eating it.