Fruit and Vegetable Serving Sizes

Fruits and vegetables are good for your heath! But how much should you be eating and how do you know what counts as a serving size?  We did a little research and here is what we found out…

The suggested serving size of fruits and vegetable vary depending on the source of your information.  However, overall the daily recommended servings range from 5 to 13 servings of fruits and vegetables a day.  

The USDA sets a serving size to about a ½ cup.  If you are not sure of a fruit’s or vegetable’s serving size, just google it! There is a ton of information out there. 

Following are just a few examples of fruit and vegetable serving sizes:   

Fruits

1 banana

1 apple

1 peach

6 strawberries

15 grapes

1 tomato

½ cup dried fruit

½ cup 100% fruit juice

Vegetables

5 florets of broccoli

4 Brussels Sprouts

10 baby carrots

1 baked sweet potato

1 cup of beans (black, garbanzo)

1 ear of corn

1 cup greens (kale, spinach)

A daily recommended value of 5 to 13 serving sizes may sound overwhelming. It’s easy though! We thought we would share some tips that have helped in getting our recommended daily serving sizes:

-     Make a morning shake with fruit.  We make a shake every morning with: 1 cup mixed berries (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries), a handful of grapes, 1 banana, 1 tablespoon of vanilla Greek yogurt, ½ cup of milk, ½ cup water, 1 scoop Pure WPI whey protein isolate, 1 tablespoon Garden of Life super-green formula, 1 ounce Veggie Trace Minerals (veggie juice), and 1 cup Bom Dia Acai and Superfruit blend juice.  Makes 2 shakes. 

-     Make your own salad – and use as many vegetables as you like! We love our salad – made with kale, peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, and broccoli slaw.  We make a large salad on Sunday which makes is so easy to prepare your lunch to during the week for work.  Our chicken cutlets takes great with the salad too!

-     Have a piece of fruit for an afternoon snack.  

-     Sautee vegetables (carrots, broccoli, zucchini, kale, etc) with olive oil and garlic and serve as a tasty side dish for dinner. 

-     Snack on fruits and veggies at night while watching TV instead of chips, ice cream and other more fattening snacks.  Use hummus for dipping instead of store-bought dips. 

-     Making home-made chicken and vegetable soup is a great way to get kids to eat vegetables.

How do you make sure your family gets enough fruits and vegetables in their diets?