By Richard Malik, ND
13 February 2006

Many of us have heard from our mothers, doctors and government to eat plenty of vegetables and fruits. The current recommendation for adults from the U.S. Department of Agriculture is to eat at least 5 servings (2.5 cups) of vegetables and 4 servings (2 cups) of fruits daily. Many Americans would have to almost double their intake of these foods to meet this requirement.

It is common knowledge that vegetables and fruits are health foods. However, most folks don’t know how powerful these foods are at preventing and even reversing disease.

According to Oxford University scientists who contribute to an online journal on evidenced based health care, eating at least 5 servings of vegetables and 1 fruit each day substantially reduces the risk of stroke, diabetes, heart disease, and cancer.

A study recently published in The Lancet, a leading medical journal, found that the risk of stroke is reduced by 26% in people eating more than five servings of vegetables and fruits per day compared to people eating less than three servings of these foods per day.

Simply increasing intake of fruits and vegetables by about 50% was found to reduce blood pressure in another study. The change in blood pressure was large enough to decrease the risk of high blood pressure, heart disease, and stroke – each by about 15%.

Some more aggressive researchers in California have looked at the effects of drastic dietary changes on high blood pressure. They have found that high blood pressure can be normalized in over 80% of their patients through a strict whole foods vegetarian diet coupled with a short period of medically supervised fasting.

Vegetables and fruits have all of these effects because of their high nutrient and fiber content and their low calorie density. Essentially, they give the body the nutrients it needs to function optimally while helping to attain or maintain a healthy weight.

Getting the most out of adding more vegetables and fruits to the diet requires eating a variety of these foods. Optimally, the dinner plate has many different colors of vegetables. A good goal is to eat a rainbow of vegetables each day including the colors green, yellow, red, orange, white, and even purple or brown.

Thinking outside of the box can be good too. For instance, when looking for white vegetables consider daikon or kohlrabi in addition to the traditional white vegetables like potato, onion, and garlic. Some vegetables count in two categories, like radishes which are red on the outside and white on the inside.

Eating a high volume of vegetables and fruits is one part of a diet that is supportive of optimal health. While a healthier diet does not replace medical care for diagnosed conditions or annual physical examinations, dietary improvement can play a powerful role in the prevention and healing of many important medical conditions.