*Question* ok to not eat fruit if you eat enough vegetables?

pbbagel
pbbagel Posts: 53 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hey. I know many people say "it doesn't matter what you eat, the amount of calories are important, etc." but I am wondering about this from a health stand-point...
So I recently don't buy much fruit because it's too expensive, for example each day I eat maybe 1/2 a large apple or 50g frozen blueberries. To compensate for my low fruit intake I try to eat a lot of vegetables at dinner... and lunch if I can.
So my question:
Are there any vitamins/minerals that are only exclusively found in fruit?
Can I compensate for low fruit intake by eating vegetables?
Any advise about this?
thank you!

Replies

  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    I'm not aware of anything that's unique to fruit in general. Broccoli appears to have a wider variety of things in it than an apple for example, and less sugar.
  • agrasso88
    agrasso88 Posts: 33 Member
    Vegetables contain many more nutrients and they are delivered without all the sugar in fruit. Fruit should be a treat, there is a reason why fruit used to be seasonal.
  • NinjaJinja
    NinjaJinja Posts: 147 Member
    From a purely anecdotal example... I eat next to no fruit. I mean my fruit intake consists of filling in a sweet maybe once a month. And other than being overweight, I don't have anything wrong with me. And I honestly don't think fruit is all it's cracked up to be.

    And that was my completely unscientific anecdotal opinion, lol.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    Fruit is good, but vegetables have far more nutrition. That said, many fruits are higher in antioxidants than vegetables...blueberries for example are one of the most antioxidant rich foods on the planet. Also, fruits contain pectin which is a soluble fiber and can otherwise be difficult to come by outside of eating a bunch of oatmeal....insoluble fiber is far more prevalent in vegetables.

    I take in far more vegetables than I do fruit...really, a serving or two of fruit is plenty. The only time I have more than that on a regular basis is during the summer when there is a prevalence of variety, otherwise I pretty much stick to my blueberries in the morning with breakfast and an apple in the afternoon before my workout.
  • HeidiCooksSupper
    HeidiCooksSupper Posts: 3,839 Member
    Yes, you don't need to over eat fruit. This information from Harvard's Nutritionsource may help with information about fruits and vegetables: http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/what-should-you-eat/vegetables-and-fruits/
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  • Archer9304
    Archer9304 Posts: 113 Member
    Vegetables are more nutrient dense than fruit. That said, I love my daily fruit. It's my sweet tooth fix during the week. :wink:
  • williams969
    williams969 Posts: 2,528 Member
    Not a big deal. Now, I'm probably biased, since I really don't care for fruit (true story). I will tolerate bananas a few days a week. However, I LOVE veggies, and eat gobs of them, enough so that my potassium, Vit A and Vit C micros (as tracked by MFP) are well exceeded on a daily basis from my food intake alone. I figure that's a good of a marker as any for gauging an appropriate veggie intake. Oh, and my family calls me a "rabbit" because of all the veggies.
  • healthierhappierh
    healthierhappierh Posts: 5
    I think it isn't necessary to eat fruit if you make sure you get all the vitamins you need. For example make sure you eat veggies high in vitamin c and get your banana potassium from brazil nuts. :)
  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 18,232 Member
    I eat every vegetable under the sun and exceed by 7 a day but eat NO fruit. I have a weird *kitten*, pathological hatred of fruit. It's never caused me an issue and I get loads of vitamins, my bloods are good and it doesn't cause issues.
  • VeryKatie
    VeryKatie Posts: 5,961 Member
    I think you're doing ok! You might have to branch out and eat new and strange types of veggies to compensate for fruit. But you're still eating a serving of fruit. You might want to be up to about 2 servings (a whole apple) for fruit - which is actually the doctor recommended amount. The remaining 6 serving should be veggies anyway!

    Technically the saying should be "Eat your veggies and fruit" not the more common "Eat your fruits and veggies".

    ETA: Since fruits are expensive where you are, do you have an opportunity to grow some yourself? Or to grow veggies to save some money for fruit if you actually want to? You can grow tomatoes, carrots, beans, peas, etc. in pots - if you only have a balcony. You might be able to do raspberries and strawberries too - but maybe you'd have to grow them in larger crate-like boxes.
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
    Hey. I know many people say "it doesn't matter what you eat, the amount of calories are important, etc." but I am wondering about this from a health stand-point...
    So I recently don't buy much fruit because it's too expensive, for example each day I eat maybe 1/2 a large apple or 50g frozen blueberries. To compensate for my low fruit intake I try to eat a lot of vegetables at dinner... and lunch if I can.
    So my question:
    Are there any vitamins/minerals that are only exclusively found in fruit?
    Can I compensate for low fruit intake by eating vegetables?
    Any advise about this?
    thank you!
    Fruit tends to have more fiber, but I think other than that, you can get what you need from vegetables. You can check the micronutrients on here to see what you're missing. I'm not sure what veggies have vitamin C, though. (Tomatoes, but they're technically fruit and you want to eat them raw for the C.)
  • oregonzoo
    oregonzoo Posts: 4,251 Member
    Eat what you like. I don't touch fruit, but eat a ton of veggies. I seem to do ok.

    Eating should be pleasure, not cramming something you hate down your gullet.
  • fooninie
    fooninie Posts: 291 Member
    I vote veggies all the way! I eat one fruit per day on average but about 4 cups of veggies. They fit in my calorie goals and fill me up.
  • Galatea_Stone
    Galatea_Stone Posts: 2,037 Member
    I don't always eat fruit, but I always eat veggies. Eat what you enjoy. If you're worried about Vitamin A and C, eat brussels sprouts and sweet potatoes. Cantaloupe is higher in both, but if you don't want fruit, you don't have to eat it.
  • kmscarfo727
    kmscarfo727 Posts: 1 Member
    I agree with everything stated above... I only eat fruit when I need more carbs that day. But just a note, WHAT you eat absolutely matters. Calories aren't the most important thing. Macronutrients are critical to your body's function, ability to build muscle, burn fat, etc. You will see much better results if you track you macros instead of your calories- and aim to hit them each day, not stay below them. It seems counterintuitive, but you need to eat enough to fuel your body or you will not lose weight.
  • pbbagel
    pbbagel Posts: 53 Member
    Thanks everyone for the advise so far, I feel quite relieved. I guess I will carry on with 1 serving of fruit a day but try to eat a wider range of vegetables (at the moment I mostly eat just mushrooms, salad and kimchi...).
  • PBWaffleCakes
    PBWaffleCakes Posts: 900 Member
    All my doctors tell me that when they say eat your fruit and veggies you should be eating more veggies. The fruits they prefer me to eat are apples, the berries, cherries, and the melons. I believe the only benefit fruits have over the veggies is the berries have a lot of antioxidants. But veggies seem to be the way to go.
  • castlerobber
    castlerobber Posts: 528 Member
    Are there any vitamins/minerals that are only exclusively found in fruit?
    Can I compensate for low fruit intake by eating vegetables?

    No, you aren't missing any vitamins or minerals by eating little or no fruit, as long as you're eating vegetables. Berries and cherries are probably the most nutritious, and also have the least sugar if that's a concern for you.
  • Kamikazeflutterby
    Kamikazeflutterby Posts: 770 Member
    Vegetables contain many more nutrients and they are delivered without all the sugar in fruit. Fruit should be a treat, there is a reason why fruit used to be seasonal.

    Yes, it's called winter. That whole earth tilting planet rotation was clearly intended to control our carbs.







    Sorry, couldn't help myself. :flowerforyou:
  • hallo_spacedog
    hallo_spacedog Posts: 40 Member
    I wouldn't worry. I also don't often buy fruit, because even though I absolutely love it, it's really expensive and I don't have a good local source. There are more days in my life where I don't eat a piece of fruit then where I do... vegetables really should provide most of what you need vitamin and fiber wise (excepting protein, carbs, etc)
  • Meerataila
    Meerataila Posts: 1,885 Member
    Vegetables contain many more nutrients and they are delivered without all the sugar in fruit. Fruit should be a treat, there is a reason why fruit used to be seasonal.

    Yes, it's called winter. That whole earth tilting planet rotation was clearly intended to control our carbs.





    Sorry, couldn't help myself. :flowerforyou:

    :laugh:

    Reminds me of the legend of maple syrup. Can't have a bunch of fat people lazing around under trees with their mouths open all day!

    http://www.abenakitribe.com/Maple_Syrup_Legend.html

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