When you say five servings, do you mean five fruits and five vegetables, or do you mean something like three fruit and two vegetables or two fruit and three vegetables?
V-8 now offers a drink of mixed fruit and vegetables. How far will a large glass of that go to meet what you suggest?
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Many experts suggest we need from five to nine servings of fruits and vegetables every day. That is a total. Older or inactive women and smaller children need at least three servings of vegetables and two servings of fruit. Growing kids, teen girls, most men and active women would eat at least four servings of vegetables and three servings of fruit everyday. Teen boys and active men should eat at least five servings of vegetables and four servings of fruit. Unfortunately many people fail to eat even five servings each day.
Here are some typical serving sizes for fruits and vegetables:
Fruits
- one banana
- six strawberries
- two plums
- fifteen grapes
- one apple
- one peach
- one half cup of orange or other fruit juice
- five broccoli florets
- ten baby carrots
- one roma tomato
- 3/4 cup tomato juice
- half of a baked sweet potato
- one ear of corn
- four slices of an onion
One serving of a fruit or vegetable juice is four ounces. V8 Fusion claims to meet one serving of fruit and one serving of vegetables in one eight ounce glass. A large glass may hold about 12 ounces, which would give you three servings of fruits and vegetables.
Sources:
Nutrition Insights. "Serving Sizes in the Food Guide Pyramid and on the Nutrition Facts Label: What's Different and Why?" USDA Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion. March 1999.
"Dietary Guidelines for Americans." USDHHS. Updated October 2006.
