At this point, you should have a comprehensive idea of the best reasons to ensure you are getting enough fruits and vegetables in your diet. These can enhance your health in a myriad ways, and if you are currently feeling tired, moody, unwell, or even depressed, it’s highly likely that you have a deficiency in at least one of these micronutrients. And this should come as no surprise – given that the vast majority of people DO have some kind of deficiency these days.
The next question is how you should be gently integrating these fruits and vegetables. Are there any drawbacks? How many do you need precisely? Can you just use a vitamin tablet instead?
How Many Fruits and Vegetables Do You Need Really?
You might have heard that you should be aiming to consume at least five different fruits and vegetables a day. This is a piece of general advice that is given by many health organizations and governments. Some organizations have increased this number to seven. It is good advice, however it is also arbitrary.
What do I mean by that? Essentially, that it is based on nothing!
Fruits and vegetables are not inherently good for you. They are not good for you because they are fruits and vegetables. Rather, they are good for you BECAUSE they contain all those essential micronutrients.
Those micronutrients are required in different quantities and varieties, and ultimately the best thing we can do for our health is just to get as many of them as possible. The more fruits and vegetables you consume, the better. And it is very hard to overdose when you get your nutrients from natural sources like this.
And be very dubious when a packet of food tells you it counts as “one of your five a day.” If that food is highly processed, then chances are it won’t contain many nutrients in it at all anymore. At the very least, it is likely to be much lower in fiber.
Thus, the benefits won’t be as great as they would have been had you consumed that nutrient itself. Apply some common sense, and where possible, eat as many whole, real fruits and vegetables as you can!
The Dangers of Too Many Fruits and Vegetables
That said, you can do yourself damage by consuming too many fruits and vegetables. Or to be a little more specific, it is relatively easy to cause harm by consuming too much fruit.
That’s because fruit is highly acidic and packed with sugar. Both these things make it damaging to your teeth in particular. Many people who switch to diets that are primarily focussed on the use of smoothies will end up developing serious tooth problems!
One solution to this is to avoid drinking too much fruit juice or too many fruit smoothies. Instead, focus on drinking vegetable smoothies, which typically contain a lot less sugar.
Another consideration is that fruits and vegetables are still a source of calories. This is especially true for things like avocados, which have become all the rage recently. While avocados are great for boosting testosterone (thanks to their healthy saturated fat content), and while they are useful for those trying to avoid carbs, they can still make you fat!
Don’t make the mistake of thinking that “fruits and vegetables are healthy and therefore can’t make you fat.”
The truth is that they still contain calories and you still need to track and manage those calories to avoid unwanted weight gain.
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