Do some fruits "count" as vegetables when it comes to diet?

So this whole time I was thinking that squash, bell peppers, and green beans all fall under the "vegetable" category. Unsurprisingly I was wrong! But I was wondering if this is still true for our diets? To my understanding it's not good for you to eat more than two servings of fruit per day. I realized I eat a ton though since what I thought were veggies actually aren't. But do greens like green beans and peas still have the same benefits as vegetables? I'm just all turned around now about what a balanced diet looks like. :open_mouth:
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Replies

  • OyGeeBiv
    OyGeeBiv Posts: 733 Member
    Why do you say squash, peppers and green beans aren't vegetables?
  • DancingMoosie
    DancingMoosie Posts: 8,613 Member
    Why should you only eat two servings of fruit? I usually group them all together as fruits/vegetables and try to get about 5 servings a day.
  • pebble4321
    pebble4321 Posts: 1,132 Member
    Don't overthink it! The Aussie recommendations are 2+5 - 2 fruit and 5 veg each day, but I'd be pretty happy to count capsicum (peppers), eggplant, tomatoes and other things that are technically fruits as a veggie in this context.
    Aim for a variety of fruit and veg, stick within your calorie goal and you'll be fine.
  • 85Cardinals
    85Cardinals Posts: 733 Member
    God prefers that you eat vegetables, but he'll allow fruits as well.
  • TheChesireCat
    TheChesireCat Posts: 21 Member
    Fruit has more (natural) sugars therefore it is better to get your nutrition from vegetables than fruit. Fruit are very bad for your teeth.
  • fishshark
    fishshark Posts: 1,886 Member
    oh maan today i ate tomatoes (fruit), avocados (fruit) cucumbers (fruit), grapes, watermelon, and some blueberries.... (as well as beer, chips, bbq chicken, a smothie ect) there is no limit in a normal persons intake... and i dont meal calories. yes CICO is what matters... eating 0 or 10 servings of fruit doesnt make a difference.
  • StealthHealth
    StealthHealth Posts: 2,417 Member
    You're making this way more complicated than it needs to be. Just don't eat too many calories - no matter what those calories are made of and you'll lose weight.

    ^^this
  • Carlos_421
    Carlos_421 Posts: 5,132 Member
    Your body doesn't care about the botanical classifications of a food. It only cares about what is in the food you eat.

    Recommendations to eat a certain number of fruits and vegetables, etc. may be somewhat helpful for those who don't understand nutrition to help them get some variety of nutrients but it's not at all scientific.

    If you you really want to ensure that you're getting the nutrition you need, track your food intake and make sure you get enough protein, fat (mostly unsaturated), fiber, vitamins and minerals. As long as you get enough of those things, you're fine and your body doesn't care whether it comes from fruits, vegetables, meat, dairy, supplements or whatever.

    And of course the part that matters for weight loss is eating fewer calories than you burn.
  • HaggisWhisperer
    HaggisWhisperer Posts: 125 Member
    Rhubarb is a vegetable (botanically speaking) if that is any help! Although I have heard that it is classed as a fruit in the US. You can use it in a stir fry, but you would probably need a sauce with some sweetness to compensate for its tartness.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    As long as you're hitting your calorie goals and it isn't crowding out anything else that you need, what's the problem with having more than 2 servings of fruit per day?

    There is so much baseless information about nutrient/fitness out there. If someone tells you that something is bad for you, don't just accept it. Ask why and determine for yourself if it is valid advice.
  • StephanieJane2
    StephanieJane2 Posts: 191 Member
    I eat a ton of fruit, some days I can eat, banana, blueberries, strawberries, orange and melon and a pear and apricots. My lunches are usually a fruit mixture xx
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    edited June 2016
    Most of the fruits we think of as vegetables are in the veggie category because they have nutrition profiles closer to the vegetable group than the fruit group. The fact that they are botanically fruits isn't that important in terms of nutrition.

    You are right to classify those foods as vegetables for diet purposes.

    This. Or basically because they are culinarily vegetables -- less sweet, and therefore fewer calories. Also typically more micros. (The only issue with eating lots of fruit, although I see no need to limit it to 2 servings if you are not eating them in place of veg or exceeding calories or lacking other necessarily things like protein and healthy fats, is that they tend to be higher cal.)

    Peas and green beans are, I believe, technically legumes, although ones that culinarily also get treated as vegetables. Personally, I tend to think of peas (other than in the pod) interchangeably with beans, starches, and grains in a dish and green beans interchangeably with vegetables.

    The precise botanical category isn't what the nutrition recommendations are referring to and makes no difference.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    As long as you're hitting your calorie goals and it isn't crowding out anything else that you need, what's the problem with having more than 2 servings of fruit per day?

    There is so much baseless information about nutrient/fitness out there. If someone tells you that something is bad for you, don't just accept it. Ask why and determine for yourself if it is valid advice.

    And this. Great advice.
  • evileen99
    evileen99 Posts: 1,564 Member
    edited June 2016
    64crayons wrote: »
    Why do you say squash, peppers and green beans aren't vegetables?

    Because botanically, they are fruits. The ovary of a plant. Anything we eat that contains seeds is technically a fruit.
    Vegetables are the vegetative parts of the plants: roots (carrots, beets), stems (celery), and leaves (lettuce, spinach, other greens), flower buds (broccoli, cabbage).

    We tend to think of "fruit" as being sweet and "vegetables" as being more savory.
  • evileen99
    evileen99 Posts: 1,564 Member
    lemurcat12 wrote: »

    Peas and green beans are, I believe, technically legumes, although ones that culinarily also get treated as vegetables. Personally, I tend to think of peas (other than in the pod) interchangeably with beans, starches, and grains in a dish and green beans interchangeably with vegetables.
    .

    Legume just describes how many ways the seed pod can split--the seed pod of a legume has two seams. It's still a plant ovary or fruit.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    edited June 2016
    evileen99 wrote: »
    lemurcat12 wrote: »

    Peas and green beans are, I believe, technically legumes, although ones that culinarily also get treated as vegetables. Personally, I tend to think of peas (other than in the pod) interchangeably with beans, starches, and grains in a dish and green beans interchangeably with vegetables.
    .

    Legume just describes how many ways the seed pod can split--the seed pod of a legume has two seams. It's still a plant ovary or fruit.

    Sure, but legume is a more specific category.

    Bigger point is that nutritionally it doesn't matter that they are botanically fruits. They aren't what is meant by "fruit" in something like the Dietary Guidelines (see, e.g., http://health.gov/dietaryguidelines/2015/guidelines/appendix-3/).