What is a serving size of fruits and vegetables?

So, what exactly is a serving size when it comes to fruits and vegetables?

We have all heard or read that we should ideally be eating five servings of fruit and vegetables every day. But even after all my training as a Health Coach I often wonder what exactly is a serving size? Is it one apple or two carrots? Is serving size equal to three large strawberries or four celery stalks?

By five servings, do we mean five fruits and five vegetables, or do you we mean something like three fruits and two vegetables or two fruits and three vegetables? Confusing, Isn't IT?

So I did some research and here is what I found,  “According to The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) a serving size for vegetables is equal to about one-half cup, and one cup for greens like spinach and lettuce. One serving of sliced fruit or berries is equal to one-half cup; however a single piece of fruit, such as an apple or an orange counts as one serving. “The USDA chose one-half cup as a serving size based on the portion sizes that people typically eat, ease of use, and the nutritional content of fruits and vegetables.”¹

To make it easier:

·         Fruits should provide 4 daily servings, or 2 cups.

·         Vegetables should provide 5 servings, or 2.5 cups

Here are some typical serving sizes for fruits and vegetables:

Fruits

·         One banana

·         Six strawberries

·         Two plums

·         Fifteen grapes

·         One apple

·         One peach

·         1/2 cup of orange or other fruit juice

Vegetables

·         Five broccoli florets

·         Ten baby carrots

·         One Roma tomato

·         3/4 cup tomato juice

·         3/4 cup vegetable juice

·         Half a baked sweet potato

·         Four slices of an onion

Looking at this 5-9 servings of fruits and vegetables seem doable. But the reality is most of the people fail to eat even the minimum suggested level of five servings of fruits or vegetables each day.  And remember there is no harm in going over the recommended portion as long as you chose fresh, raw fruits and vegetables and not corn or potato chips as your vegetable portion.

These tips might help you increase the amount of fruit and vegetables you eat each day:

·         Out of sight is out of mind:

Put your fruits and vegetables out on the counter or in the fridge where you can see them every day. Put berries, cut fruits, raw or steamed vegetables in muffin cups and serve these to your children after they are back from school. It will be fun for them to eat from a muffin cup.

·         Add fruit and vegetables to every meal:

Before filling up your plate with grains and other foods, fill it up with fruits and vegetables and make it a point to fill half your plate at every meal with fruits or vegetables.

·         Eat seasonal fruits and vegetables and try something new:

Fruits and vegetables taste best when they are in season. So pick up what is the freshest and try to buy a new produce each time you go to the grocery store. Never tried that funny looking Litchi you saw at Asian store, try it now. You may surprise yourself and please your taste buds.

·         Graze on produce:

Next time you want to snack look at the produce sitting on your kitchen counter or fridge rather than reaching out to the pantry. Snack on fresh fruits, berries, watermelon, carrots, celery, tomatoes, or cucumbers. Dipping my veggies in almond butter or hummus will give you the necessary nutrition needed to avoid that mid afternoon slump (Hint for afternoon coffee lovers.). Carry some cut fruits and carrots in a Ziploc bag for the road.

·         Add fruits and vegetables to dishes:

Be creative and find ways to incorporate more fruits and vegetables in foods that you cook. Add berries to your cereal and top your breakfast pancakes with fruits instead of the sugary syrup. Pack your sandwich with extra veggies, add vegetable toppings to your pizza, or pasta dish.

Most importantly, aim for a variety and eat many different types of fruits and vegetables in a rainbow of colors. Eat mindfully and enjoy the wonderful gift of nature called fresh produce.

Do you have any ideas to increase your intake of fruits and veggies? Then, please share them here.

Healthy Regards, 

Parul

Sources:

Lehman S, " What is a serving of fruit or vegetable", About Health

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I love what I do!

     “Not knowing when the dawn will come

                                                 I open every door.” 

                                                                  ― Emily Dickinson, The Complete Poems

It's amazing what life has in store for us. I had never imagined that my passion for green smoothies and juices will land me with such a great opportunity. 

I got a call from City of Tempe's recreation coordinator last week. She happened to read my blogs, my Facebook posts and asked me if I would be interested in offering a class on "Juicing for Health" & "Clean Eating" to the residents of the City. This offer was totally unplanned but the idea of sharing my passion of juicing & good health with others was truly appealing.

The energy and passion of City of Tempe recreation coordinators to reach out to the people and educate them on healthy Living was truly addictive. My interview with the team which was originally scheduled for 30 minutes lasted for about 1 hour 10 minutes. We brain stormed about different ways to make juicing & healthy living fun, easy and affordable for the people. 

By the grace of the almighty the interview panel liked my proposals for both the "Juicing for Health" as well as the "Clean Eating" workshops and I am happy to announce that I will be offering these workshops beginning January 2015. 

But the whole idea of telling this story was to answer the burning question posed by my friend,
"Why do you keep posting pictures of food that you cook or eat on your FB page?"

To answer my friend, there are many reasons.

• In a World where our lives are dominated by packaged, processed, fake foods I love sharing pictures of real, fresh, unprocessed,green, colorful,healthy, live, full of enzymes, good for health, created by nature foods.
• I hope that my friends, family and anyone who follows my posts will get inspired looking at my pictures and maybe, just maybe try to eat at least one meal healthy, together as a family.
• I want to reach out to as many people out there, serve them and share whatever little I have learned about nutrition. In the process of serving & sharing with others, I hope to find myself and my true calling. 

• And finally, not knowing when the dawn might come, I want to keep all my doors open. Yes, I am little selfish!

I hope this answers some of your queries, my dear friend/s!

Now back to Juicing!

Your friend in good health!

Parul

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Juice or Smoothies? Which is Better?

I often get asked which is better "juicing or blending" in other words "juice or smoothie"? It's a great question. My answer is both are great and there is no comparison. It's like comparing oranges to apples.

Juicing

When we hear the word juice the picture that comes to mind is of a big carton of Tropicana or similar brand juice that is loaded with sugar and artificial flavors. This has been our association with juices and it's pretty natural to question the health benefits of such juices.

But the juices that I am talking about are different. The juices I am talking about contain more vegetables and very little to no fruit. 

The key with juicing is to use at least 80-90% veggies that are low in sugar. Hence, when juicing, focus on green veggies such as celery, cucumber, kale, spinach, chard, bok choy and wheat grass. Then add high sugar vegetables little apple, pear, carrots, beets, oranges etc. in little amount. Citrus fruits like lemons, limes and grapefruit are great additions to any juice, they take away the bitterness from the greens without loading the juices with any extra sugar.

We all know that when we juice vegetables and fruits we get rid of most of the pulp or the fiber in them. This leaves us with just the nutrients and water. Our body does no work in breaking down or digesting the juices and thus the nutrients are directly absorbed by the body in a very quick and efficient way.

Juicing is an ideal thing to do while fasting or during illness or health challenges as you don’t need to use any energy to digest and assimilate the nutrients. There is lots of research that shows the healing properties of juicing. Some of the benefits of juicing are: weight loss, increased energy levels, strengthened immunity, strong bones and a glowing complexion; it may also reduce chances of heart disease, cancer and strokes, three of the leading causes of death. 

The best time to drink a juice is in the morning on an empty stomach or at least an hour before a meal. This maximizes the amount of nutrients absorbed in the body. But don't worry if you miss that window because the important thing to have a juice rather than not having one at all. 

It's best to consume a fresh pressed juice. Fresh juices not only contain greater nutritional value, they contain life. Fresh pressed juice is like drinking a natural vitamin filled with living enzymes, essential minerals, antioxidants, and natural antibiotics, which are vital for optimal health. Juice gets oxidized as soon as it comes in contact with air which compromises it's nutritional value. Refrigerating juices in a tightly sealed mason jar slows down the oxidation process but it's best to consume them the same day. 

Blending

Blending fruits and vegetables in the form of smoothies retains the fiber. Our bodies love fiber! Smoothies help us feel full longer and are also helpful in reducing cravings. If you are using more fruit then blending is a better option due to the retaining of the fiber which slows the sugar absorption. 

Green Smoothies are really in these days. They are quick and easy to make, you can add super seeds like flax, chia, hemp and maca powder and even make blended soups, which is essentially a savory smoothie that's slightly warmed. 

I personally like both juicing as well as blending. If I have a time crunch I prefer smoothies because of the convenience in preparing them. However after a vacation or just before the change of the season I prefer juicing to give my body all the nutrients from fresh vegetables and fruits that will help with my immunity.

Remember do not gulp your juice or smoothies down, swish it around your mouth and “chew” it. Blend it with saliva so it breaks down more efficiently this will also help to prevent gas and bloating.  

My husband loves shopping at farmers market. Last week he filled his cart with all types of greens and fruits. I had almost 10 lbs of produce and the best way of using these was juicing.

I got really busy washing, chopping, cutting and juicing my rainbow of veggies and got delayed in writing my post.

Hope my readers pardon me for the delay.

I got about 4-32 ounces of vegetable juice and about 16 ounces of fruit juice. The fruit juice has little greens as well but because of more fruit you don't see the greens. This is the perfect way to get some fruit and veggies in your kid’s diet. Much more nutritious and tastier than the store bought 100% fruit juices!

One of my favorite juice recipes is:

3 celery stalks

3 kale leaves

1 cucumber

handful of parsley and 

1/2-1 lemon (depending on taste)

There is no fruit in this combination but you just can't beat the taste. It truly is Delish!

Try it today. Until next time HAPPY JUICING!

Healthy Regards,

Parul

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Dieting V/S Cleansing! What do you need?

People often get confused between dieting and detoxing and tend to use them interchangeably.

According to oxford dictionary the word “diet” is a noun and “means the kinds of food that a person, animal, or community habitually eats”. Therefore, the word diet means the food that an individual needs to consume to sustain life. However, thanks to the media, advertising and plastic so called gorgeous Barbie dolls the word diet changed and became dieting or in other words starving.  A diet plan is devised for weight loss and, in some cases, has nothing to do with cleaning the body of any impurities. Some diets are in fact so restrictive in nature that they can have an adverse reaction on the body or add additional toxins to it.

A detox diet is not losing weight, but healing the body from inside out, first by helping it get rid of impurities, then sustaining a lifetime of eating clean for maximum health. The added benefit of a detox plan is weight loss. This leads to confusion between dieting and detoxing.

Diet plans focus on counting calories and sometimes food deprivation. “Short-term cleanses may restrict the types of food consumed for the purpose of helping the body eliminate toxins. However, long-term detox plans are not restrictive, but rather aimed towards a cleaner way of eating - whether it is organic food, raw food or regularly consumed fruit juices - that those interested can sustain for a lifetime”¹.

When you eat properly and provide your body with proper nutrition, your body stops thinking that it needs to hold on to every ounce of fat you consume to keep you from starving. It no longer believes that you’re in danger of dying and it begins to utilize the nutrients that you consume instead of saving them up and creating more fat.

If you provide your body with enough nutrients, it will even begin ridding itself of all the toxins that exist in your body and also get rid of the excess fat. All of this happens naturally without deprivation or eating a grapefruit for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Here is a great info graphic that points the difference between a diet and a detox.

 

Image Courtesy: Healthy Living Coach

For ease of understanding I will list the difference in a table format.

Diet	Cleanse or Detox
Starving the body	Feeding the body
Counting Calories	Counting nutrients/ not calories
Body holds on to the weight with fear of deprivation	Body is getting all the nutrients, releasing toxins and excess weight
Lot of Effort/ No results	Minimal Efforts/ Great results
Feeling hungry and craving food	No hunger prangs after first few days or cravings
Feeling tired/no energy	Feel more energetic
Rebound weight gain	No weight gain if following a healthy plan

So instead of focusing on dieting, change your frame of mind and try a cleanse. Your system will thank you and you will be proud of your achievement.

My Smoothie Plan:

My smoothie detox was not as I intended it to be. I wanted to stick to only smoothies and herbal teas for a certain period of time. I however cheated and then towards the end just swayed away from my original plan. But I was happy with what I achieved. My skin cleared up, I could sleep better and not to mention I even lost few pounds.

But there is more I can achieve and for that I need a more structured plan backed by medical doctors. I love this quote from one of my favorite books Alchemist written by Paulo Coelho, “And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it”.

I found out about this great plan called complete transformation which is more comprehensive , well researched and backed by medical doctors. I have already ordered all my products and as soon as they come I am ready to nourish my body for what it needs.

If you need more information on the plan feel free to check the website:
http://www.recipe2health.com/complete-transformation/

Have a Healthy week ahead.

Sources:
“Difference between Diet Plans and Detox Plans”, Available Online at Web Diagonsis

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When should you detox?_Day 22 on Smoothies!

A big Thanks to all my readers for their prayers. My Dad's surgery went well. It was a total miracle and the amazing power of prayers pouring in from all directions. Now we are just waiting for his eye sight to get back to normal. I am positive with all your prayers that he will recover very soon.

THANK YOU!

My plan in the last few days hit a slump. I was totally worn out and had to drag myself to do even the basic chores. No, I was not physically sick but was mentally unstable. When the spirit is low nothing feels good and the well being of your near and dear ones is all that you have on your mind. Smoothies, juicing, detoxing all take a back seat.

The state I was in for the past few days made me wonder what is the best time to detox?

Is it Summer when it is hot outside and it is easier for the body to handle the raw and cooling foods that go with the detox?

May be Spring is a great time to refresh our system because of spring's association with growth and regeneration.?

Winters might not be the right season because we crave for root vegetables and warm/comfort foods that do not let the body detox then how about a detox during Autumn right before we hit the cold weather.

One can find different reasons and different seasons to do a detox but I personally believe that the best time to detox is the time when you are at peace physically, mentally, spiritually and emotionally. 

Now some of you might think that it's difficult to reach this state of perfect balance considering the busy lifestyle these days and infer that detox is not really for you. Well, the truth is if your life is going at a pretty steady pace and you are not making any major changes then you can do a detox anytime. Here is my checklist to decide if this is the right time to detox or not.

No major change in job: If you have recently changed your company or found a new job then your priority is your job. The stress of a new job might deter you from your detox plan.

No physical injury: Although detox is a great way to recoup from any injury, if the injury is new and you have to take medications to keep the pain/symptoms under control then it's not a good idea to detox. If you detox after you have healed you will have a total detox and will also be able to get rid of the toxins due to medications.

No mental issues: If you are stressed about how things are going in your life and decide to go on a detox just for the sake of it, then you will only achieve failure. You need to have peace of mind and eat intuitively while detoxing. If you are impatient and want to start right away then do little meditation or go on a retreat to correct your mental frame of mind.

No cold or flu: If you are under a spell of cough, cold or flu wait until you recover to start a detox.

No change of place/house: If you recently moved to a different abode then it's best to settle down in your new home and environment before making any major changes in your diet.

No upcoming travels/vacation: If you are going on a vacation and know that you will be eating out, eating at odd hours or eating plane food and leftovers then its best to wait till you get back from the vacation to start the detox. Try to stick to a healthy eating plan even while vacationing but keep the intense detox for after party. In fact, detoxing after a vacation is a great way to cleanse your body of the toxins that you accumulated during your stay away from home.

No big event: Many people like to detox before a big event (like a wedding or a big birthday bash) to lose few extra pounds and look vibrant. I personally think it's a great idea to do a little 3-5 day detox before a major function. But if you do so then you have to be very careful of what you eat during that event. If you eat too much then you might upset your system and feel sick. And you really would like to enjoy the party and not spend your time on bed when everyone else is out dancing. So, either be very careful of what you eat or keep the detox for after the d-day.

No unrealistic goals: Do it for the right reasons. Don't set unrealistic goals and try to lose 10 pounds in 10 days. Don't think of detox as a weight loss program. You will surely lose weight but if you keep weight loss as a by product of detox and focus on other benefits like cleansing your system, clearing skin, having more energy you will be able to enjoy your detox and gain much more.

No worries: Even if your plans fails mid way (like mine did) don't worry and just get back on track. Get up and get going!


Smoothie of the day:

1 cup spinach
2 leaves collard greens
2 slices mango
4 chunks pineapple
1 over ripe banana
1/2 cup blueberries
1/2 cup strawberries
1 leaf of mint
1 tbsp flax seed
1 tbsp chia seed
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup fresh orange juice

Now this smoothie had more fruit than the greens and was really sweet and creamy. It has been two days since I had my smoothies so to get back on track I tried this combination with more fruit. I wanted to try something that excites me and motivates me to fall in  love with my smoothies all over again. Needless, to say purpose achieved. I can't stay away from my love for long!

Loved it so much that I forgot to take a picture till I was half way through. 

Confession Time:

My husband was concerned looking at my gloomy state. I am a very strong person but sometimes it's difficult for me to keep myself cheerful. So he decided to pamper me and took me to an Indian restaurant. I didn't mind eating a serving of rice and eggplant vegetable. I also had regular meals in the last two days. A big hiccup in my plan. Well, we will see how it goes from here.

Gratitude Time:
Thanks to family and friends! Relationships are so important. We just cant live in isolation. We normally don't understand the importance of our family till tragedy strikes. Don't wait till it's too late. Pick up that phone or skype or face time, do whatever it takes, but just let your close one know how important they are for you. Thank them for their presence in your life. You are what you are today because of your family and friends.


Prayers for Day 22 and on wards:

Thank You again for your prayers. I always believed in the power of prayer but now I am a firm believer. Please keep all the families who are dealing with illness, disease or hospitalization in your prayers. You might or might not know all these people but saying a small prayer won't take much of your time. Who knows GOD might hear your voice.

To a Healthy Beginning!

Cheers,
Parul

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