how many servings?

One of the most commonly asked questions I get from people of all ages with varying health concerns is about how many servings of different food groups they should be eating. So- let me uncomplicate things for everyone. Of course, there are specific changes to these recommendations but, in general these are the amounts of each food group you should be eating.

Fruits: 2-3, 1/2 cup servings
Vegetables: 7-13, 1 cup servings
Carbohydrates/Starchy Vegetables: 3 servings (size of serving varies based on food)
Protein: 4 servings (about 20g of protein each)

There are several things that may cause these serving recommendations to vary a little. For example, if you're a big athlete you'll need to eat upwards of 18 servings of vegetables (raw) a day and likely increase your protein content a bit to help your muscles heal and grow. If you're diabetic you'll probably want to have more strict control over your carbohydrate and fruit intake. If you've got chronic illness or healing wounds you also need to increase your vegetable and protein intake. Your nutrition can literally change your health. 

You have the power to improve every body system by how you eat. You also have the power to damage your body by eating the wrong things. 

If I could stress you getting just one food group in every day, I'd suggest you get in ALL of your vegetables. These are PACKED with important nutrients that help your heart, lungs, eyes, brain, gut, muscles, liver, kidneys...literally every organ in  our bodies. 

I know I have a hard time getting all of my vegetables in every day even with concentrated effort to do so. I recently heard about and started Juice Plus! It's like pressing the "easy button" and gives you 30 different fruits and vegetables in your diet every day in capsule form. If you want to look into Juice Plus further, click here. Also, if you have an iphone, ask Siri what the most researched nutritional product in the world is. Check out all the research here.