Veggies a Day

turps3 · May 2018

How many grams of veggies does everyone eat ? I'm currently doing 400 grams, wondering if I need more.

kommodevaran · May 2018

Depends on the day and on the vegetables, and what you define as vegetables. I aim for 80 grams of munching vegetables, and eat them with breakfast and lunch, and dinner too if I'm having something that doesn't naturally have a vegetable component, if it's salad greens, it's usually just 30-50 grams, if it's oven roasted brussel sprouts, I take half a bag, or 300 grams, if it's frozen peas or beans, 100 grams, if it's parsnip, I eat one big or two small, if potatoes, I weigh out 275-300 grams if I peel them after, or 250-275 if peel on, if it's sweet potato, I usually eat one half and the other half next week. When I use more than one vegetable in one meal, it adds up quickly.

TavistockToad · May 2018

anywhere between 200g and 800g depending on the menu for the day.

Davidsdottir · May 2018

I need to pay attention to this now LOL

livingleanlivingclean · May 2018

Currently 1300g vegies plus 100g fruit....i could eat more, I have to limit myself!

Lillymoo01 · May 2018

I LOVE my vegies and can eat over 1 kg in a day. Today was a lighter day of around 800 grams. In saying that 400 gms should be enough to meet nutritional needs provided that you have a good variety of colours in there.

jasondjulian · May 2018

So long as I am not missing nutrients from my diet, why do I need to pay attention to this? I eat fruits and vegetables, along with lean meats, healthy fats and oils and whole grains. It all collectively fits into my caloric targets and goals for the day/week. Done.

How many grams of vegetables I eat is irrelevant. I think the broader question is, are you eating vegetables?

janejellyroll · May 2018

I eat a lot of vegetables, but I don't have a goal for weight. My goal is to meet my nutritional needs and as different vegetables have different macro- and micronutrients, there is no set amount that will do that.

juliamfu161 · May 2018

What kind of munching veggies do you eat? And do you have any condiments that you like to share? I want to eat more, and I currently eat carrots, grape tomatoes and snap peas. But they can get kinda boring and I'm looking for some variety. Thanks.

Sabine_Stroehm · May 2018

My lunch salad is over a pound of just vegetables. And then there's dinner and snacks.

peleroja · May 2018

I like big salads for dinner, so I eat probably a kg most days, but I don't think that's necessary for health or weight loss. It's just the way I like to eat.

juliamfu161 wrote: »

What kind of munching veggies do you eat? And do you have any condiments that you like to share? I want to eat more, and I currently eat carrots, grape tomatoes and snap peas. But they can get kinda boring and I'm looking for some variety. Thanks.

For raw snacks, I like bell peppers, mini cucumbers, broccoli (we just buy the pre-cut florets since we're lazy), kohlrabi, and cauliflower (ditto with the florets) as well as shelled peas. I usually just eat them plain, but lately I've been buying single-serving packages of hummus and that's been a really tasty snack too. I also sometimes just dip them in Franks Red Hot for the vinegar-y flavour.

NovusDies · May 2018

Some days I eat a salad as big as my head and others I eat practically none. I don't track it because I don't need to. I don't believe I need certain nutrients daily so as long as I have a decent intake weekly I don't think about it.

Plenty of people live long and fairly healthy lives without tracking this stuff. Just because we have a software tool that helps us do it doesn't mean we should unless there is a medical reason.

ETA: However, if it is fun for you or you get something out of it, it is not wrong for you. You do you. I will do me.

kommodevaran · May 2018

juliamfu161 wrote: »

What kind of munching veggies do you eat? And do you have any condiments that you like to share? I want to eat more, and I currently eat carrots, grape tomatoes and snap peas. But they can get kinda boring and I'm looking for some variety. Thanks.

I munch on carrots too, I'm slightly intolerant to raw snap peas but they are delicious so I get a small bag and divide it over several days - then there's cucumbers, broccoli, romanesco when I can get my hands on it, kohlrabi, rutabaga, and beets, not just the bloody red ones, there are polka striped and white and yellow varieties too, although more expensive. I don't use any condiments on the aforementioned, but usually some kind olive oil based dressing on salad, unless I eat it with another fat source, like meat, fish, nuts, cheese or butter.

AnnPT77 · May 2018

Unlike some here, I think many (not all) people could benefit from paying attention to eating enough varied, colorful veggies & fruits. I've looked a lot of diaries, and seen many people eating truly negligible amounts daily, day after day. I'm talking amounts of veggies you'd put on a sandwich, maybe some fruit or juice at breakfast, or one small serving at dinner (and not all of those in one day). Having exchanged messages with some of these people among my MFP friend list about their eating patterns, it wasn't commonly because people ate veggies but didn't log them (there were a small number who did that). Often they said they'd take a multivitamin instead.

IMO, it's shaky reasoning to think you can safely supplement your way to truly optimal micros (and to useful amounts of other beneficial phytonutrients). Over the course of my lifetime (62 years), many new essential nutrients (vitamins, minerals) have been "discovered" by science. Until that discovery, they weren't in supplements, but they were in food all along. A later phase of research started turning up information about a range of beneficial (not necessarily essential) phytonutrients, such as some antioxidants. More recently, in still baby-steps research, it's looking like having varied/thriving gut bacteria is helpful to health in a variety of ways, and it appears that those bacteria need to eat components of veggies and fruits that we don't digest directly, in order to be a thriving community. Food > supplements.

The national/international mainstream health/nutrition bodies are typically suggesting 5 daily servings (if not more) of veggies and fruits, and surveys suggest people on average aren't getting even that much (consistent with what I see in too many diaries here).

Personally, I love fruits and veggies, and consider 5 daily servings (400g) a bare minimum, and 10 (800g) better (now recommended by authorities in the UK, as I understand it - I don't live there). Many days fall in the 1200-1600g range for me without particularly trying to push it.

Oh, and: Other raw snacking veggies include jicama, hakurei turnips (mild, tender, white ones), celeriac.

tl;dr: Granny sez, "Eat your veggies and fruit, golly dang it!"

colorfulcoquette · May 2018

I think I'm generally in the 800-1,000 grams a day range.

This is fairly representative of a day of vegetables and fruit for me:
200g zucchini/yellow squash
150g broccoli
150g cauliflower
150g carrots
100g apple
85g cabbage
70g pumpkin
30g clementines

nickssweetheart · May 2018

juliamfu161 wrote: »

What kind of munching veggies do you eat? And do you have any condiments that you like to share? I want to eat more, and I currently eat carrots, grape tomatoes and snap peas. But they can get kinda boring and I'm looking for some variety. Thanks.

I like sweet veggies so I tend to go for red/orange bell peppers, jicama, beets, that kind of thing. Also mushrooms. And I LOVE to snack on cold lightly steamed broccoli and cauliflower, which I can even get frozen in microwave steamable bags for maximum convenience, then just toss in the fridge after steaming and have ready whenever I want.

OhMsDiva · May 2018

I do not weigh or measure veggies, but I eat at least a cup or some type of veggie with practically every meal.

emmamcgarity · May 2018

I also do not weigh fruit and veggies but measure by volume. I generally get 4-6 half cup servings of fruit and 3-4 half cup servings of veggies per day.

nooshi713 · May 2018

I haven't been keeping track of this. I know I need to eat more veggies though. I like veggies but I dont always eat them. Most days I have a salad which is 2 servings and then I may or may not have another serving. I eat 2 fruits per day on average.

NovusDies · May 2018

@AnnPT77

But isn't the fact that science hadn't discovered certain things until recently indicative of how we don't really need to worry about them that much?

I don't dispute the need for vegetables but I have to wonder what happens if I only eat half of the bare minimum recommended amount (1400) each week for let us say 6 months? Does it become a quantifiable problem? What does eating the UK amount, 5600, achieve that 2800 does not? This does not include the weight loss benefits of being more filling obviously for less calories obviously.

AnnPT77 · May 2018

NovusDies wrote: »

@AnnPT77

But isn't the fact that science hadn't discovered certain things until recently indicative of how we don't really need to worry about them that much?

You're certainly free to think of it that way; I don't.

My way of thinking is this: There are numerous studies showing benefits of veggie/fruit consumption (many admittedly correlational or survey/statistical so sub-ideal scientifically, but pretty consistent). These (probable IMO but undiscovered) beneficial nutrients have been in Real Food (TM) all along, so people eating nutritious food have been getting them without needing to force anything. Veggies & fruits (and whole grains & more) are evolution tested.

I like veggies and fruits a lot, and I'm a bet-hedger, so - speaking personally only - I see no downside to eating lots.

I'd urge others to carefully consider the recommendations of mainstream national/international health and nutrition authorities (USDA, WHO, etc.), and the evidence they use to support those recommendations. That would be 5 servings or so. I don't urge mega veg on the world at large, even though that's what I enjoy. (I know I'm fortunate to be able to afford to do whatever I want in that respect, BTW. Most first worlders can afford 5 servings, I suspect - some are very economical).

One note: Watching research progress, I'm guessing we've found most of the essential nutrients, maybe all, and are taking mainly about undiscovered useful/beneficial ones. I still want 'em. They offset my bad habits.

A second note: A common (not universal) characteristic of modern convenience, fast, or highly processed food - relevant, to my mind - is not so much that "bad" things are added, but that certain things are removed. Were those things important? Who knows? (Yes, "enriching" puts back some nutrients we know about).

Finally, I'm not anyone's actual granny, and clearly not yours, so you should do as you please.

I don't dispute the need for vegetables but I have to wonder what happens if I only eat half of the bare minimum recommended amount (1400) each week for let us say 6 months? Does it become a quantifiable problem? What does eating the UK amount, 5600, achieve that 2800 does not? This does not include the weight loss benefits of being more filling obviously for less calories obviously.

Opinion: It's not that structured or deterministic Humans are surprisingly adaptable. Again: Bet hedging, not certainty. And it's your eating, so your call.

Veggies a Day

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