Scientists say we don’t eat enough fruits or vegetables

Scientists say we don’t eat enough fruits or vegetables for our nutritional needs,so we should make nutritional supplements a part of our daily diet

We’ve been hearing about it for decades…eat more fruits and vegetables! Tens of millions of dollars have been spent trying to get the message across, but apparently, we’re just not listening.

Scientists, doctors, and health professionals have all been telling us that our inadequate intake of fruits and vegetables sets us up for a life unnecessarily at risk of disease, disability, and despair.

And even though the most recent disease statistics confirm that many of us are on that slippery slope, we cannot seem to do anything about it. In fact, two new studies published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine (Volume 32, Issue 4; April 2007) tell us it’s apparently been wasted money and wasted time.

The first study, “Have Americans Increased Fruit and Vegetable Intake?”, used data from the USDA’s National Health and Nutrition Evaluation Survey and compared intakes in 1994 to those in 2002.

Using a total of nearly 24,000 subjects, they found that 62% of the population reported consuming no servings of fruit and 25% consumed no servings of vegetables in their daily diet.

They also reported that nearly 90% of the population fell short of the USDA’s minimum target of 5 servings of fruits and vegetables each day. “With two thirds of the U.S. population overweight or obese, the implications of a diet low in fruits and vegetables are extensive…” said Dr. Tiffany Gary of the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health.

The second study looked at whether or not improvements have been made across ethnic lines. Previous studies have shown a disparity in diets of blacks and whites—and a more serious disparity in the incidence of heart disease, cancer, and stroke. The report showed no progress there, either.

According to study leader Dr. Ashima Kant, lead researcher on the project from Queens College of the City University of New York, “Dietary intake trends in blacks and whites over the past several decades appear similar, suggesting that previously identified dietary risk factors that differentially affect black Americans have not improved in a relative sense.”

Scientists say we don’t eat enough fruits or vegetables,but only you and I can make the choice to do something about our dietary shortcomings.. Read More

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