Vegetable is a broad term that refers to the edible parts of plants, which are usually their leaves, roots, fruits, or seeds. Vegetables are a staple food across the world and are a fundamental part of modern agriculture.
Since they’re low in calories but high in nutrients, most health experts recommend that you consume vegetables daily. There’s a scientific consensus that a balanced, rotating diet of different varieties of vegetables is one of the best ways to source nutrients from your food starting at a young age.
Vegetables are full of essential vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants that provide many important health benefits to your body. For instance, carrots are known for being very high in vitamin A, which plays an important role in eye health, as you grow older.
Vegetables also offer many other health benefits like:
Improved Digestive Health
Vegetables are a good source of dietary fiber, a type of carbohydrate that helps pass food through your digestive system. Studies show that fiber may also improve vitamin and mineral absorption in the body, which could potentially raise your daily energy levels.
Lower Blood Pressure
Many green leafy vegetables like kale, spinach, and chard contain potassium. Potassium helps your kidneys filter sodium out of your body more efficiently, which can reduce your blood pressure.
Lower Risk of Heart Disease
Green leafy vegetables also contain vitamin K, which is believed to prevent calcium from building up in your arteries. This can lower your risk of arterial damage and help prevent many heart health complications in the future.
Diabetes Control
Vegetables are particularly high in fiber, which is needed for optimal digestion. They have a low glycemic index, so your blood sugar won’t rise quickly after a meal. The American Diabetes Association recommends at least 3 to 5 servings per day of non-starchy vegetables like broccoli, carrots, or cauliflower.
Vegetables are a rich source of folate, a B vitamin that helps your body make new red blood cells. Folate is especially important for children’s health and may also reduce the risk of cancer and depression.
Fruits are a good source of vitamins and minerals, recognized for their role in preventing vitamin C and vitamin A deficiencies. People who incorporate fruits and vegetables as part of a healthy eating pattern have a reduced risk of some chronic diseases. USDA's MyPlate encourages filling half of the plate with fruits and vegetables at mealtimes.
Fruits are an important part of a healthy eating pattern and the source of many vital nutrients, including potassium, folate (folic acid), and antioxidants including polyphenols. Fruit such as blueberries, cranberries, strawberries and citrus also contain phytochemicals that are being studied for their added health benefits.
Daily Recommendation:
Children 2–8 years 1–1.5 cups
Girls 9–18 years 1.5 cups
Boys 9–18 years 1.5–2 cups
Women 19–30 years 2 cups
Women 31+ years 1.5 cups
Men 19+ years 2 cups
Essential Nutrients in Fruit:
The nutrients in fruit are vital for overall health and maintenance of body systems. The benefits of these nutrients include:
Grains, commonly referred to as ‘cereals’ or ‘cereal grains’, are the edible seeds of specific grasses belonging to the Poaceae (also known as Gramineae) family. Wheat, oats and rice are the grains most commonly eaten in the US, with others such as rye, barley, corn, triticale, millet and sorghum making a smaller contribution. Some types of wheat such as spelt, freekeh, farro (emmer), kamut and eikorn are also becoming more popular.
True Cereal Grains
There are a number of different types of grains found within the true cereal grains which are from the botanical family ‘Poaceae’ including wheat, oats, rice, corn (maize), barley, sorghum, rye, and millet. Within these groups there are also varieties such as farro (emmer), freekeh, kamut and spelt which are all types of wheat as well as new grains like triticale which is a mixture of wheat and rye.
Pseudo-Cereal Grains
The ‘pseudo-cereal’ group are not part of the Poaceae botanical family, in which ‘true’ grains belong, however they are nutritionally similar and used in similar ways to ‘true’ grains. Many of these, such as amaranth, buckwheat and quinoa(pronounced ‘keen-wah’), are not actually grains but are in fact seeds from a number of different plant species external to the Poaceae family. As such, they are not by definition ‘true’ grains, yet they are considered ‘pseudo-cereals’ since their overall nutrient composition is similar and they are prepared and used in similar ways to ‘true’ grains. Pseudo-cereals are increasingly being used in the manufacture of niche breads, flatbreads, crispbreads, pasta, breakfast cereals and snack bars as well as on their own as alternatives to rice, pasta and couscous.
Legumes are a type of vegetable. If you like beans or peas, then you’ve eaten them before. But there are about 16,000 types grown all over the world in different sizes, shapes, colors, and textures.
You can eat green beans and snow peas in their pods, fresh off the vine. With other types, the edible parts are the seeds -- or pulses -- inside the pods. Pulses can be prepared many ways: canned, cooked, dried, frozen whole, ground into flour, or split.
Legumes come from the Fabaceae, also called the Leguminosae, plant family. It’s hard to say where they started. All major cultures grew some type of legume. In Asia, red adzuki beans are crushed into a paste to make sweets. Black beans are popular in Mexico and Brazil. And you’ll find white cannellini beans in many Italian dishes.
Some common, good-for-you legumes include:
Nutritional values for legumes depend on the type. For example, a half-cup (86 grams) of cooked black beans (boiled with no salt) has:
We use cookies to analyze website traffic and optimize your website experience. By accepting our use of cookies, your data will be aggregated with all other user data.