Fruits and vegetables

The different associations, organizations and scientific societies related to food recommend that the diet contain at least five servings a day of fruits, vegetables or vegetables .

Moreover, the World Health Organization (WHO) emphasizes the increased consumption of these two types of food as one of the tips that must be taken into account in the development of national dietary guidelines and policies, both for the population as for the individuals.

And is that there is increasing evidence that there is an inadequate intake of this type of food, which is related to a higher incidence of various diseases. The WHO estimates that in 2010 some 6.7 million deaths were due to inadequate consumption of fruits and vegetables.

Vegetables in a balanced and healthy diet

Fruits, vegetables and vegetables are low calorie foods, rich in vitamins, minerals and fiber and other beneficial substances such as phytosterols, flavonoids and other antioxidants. The caloric content of the fruits we consume the most varies between 30 and 50 kcal per 100 g , that is, about 70 or 100 kcal per serving of fruit, while its content in carbohydrates (mixtures of fructose, glucose and sucrose usually) is between 5 and 10 g per 100 g in most fruits.

The varied consumption of fruits and vegetables helps ensure an adequate intake of many of these essential nutrients. Thus, the consumption of this type of food should be promoted in its fresh form and avoid processed derivatives that may contain higher caloric intake, less fiber, less vitamins and minerals and more sugars.

The growing boom in healthy food also stimulates the food industry to adapt its range of products to these new fashions. One of the great fashions of recent years have been the juices and "detox" diets . At this time there is a great consensus among professionals who say that the body does not need to detoxify from the usual diet and that it is necessary to modify the diet to adapt it to the recommendations that scientific societies provide. Therefore, as with all foods, juices should also be taken in a controlled manner.

However, the fact that fruit and vegetables become fashionable is positive , if we do not allow ourselves to be deceived by false health messages. Consuming juices, smoothies or crushed fruits, vegetables (looking at their nutritional content) can be a very good way to start incorporating this type of food into the diet of people who do not take them.

The best option is to choose homemade preparations in which the fiber of these foods is conserved (that is, not to remove the pulp, not to strain the juice and to crush all the fruit or vegetables without discarding part of the food) and not to add sugar or other foods sweets. The same should be done in the case of a processed preparation : it is recommended to choose purees rather than concentrated juices and to avoid additions of sugars or the like. The key will be to observe the ingredients and their nutritional composition before deciding.

The juices cold press

Another of the novelties of the market of the juices are the calls cold press or pressed in cold . This type of preparation ensures a greater preservation of vitamins in the final product. In addition, they incorporate, again, vegetables and vegetables as part of the ingredients.

They are usually mixtures of juices, juice concentrates and fruit and vegetable crushed without any other added ingredient , so that their fiber content can be higher than in juices. So, again it will be the list of ingredients and the nutritional composition of the product which will give the key to know how recommendable it is.

Undoubtedly, these types of drinks are more recommendable than sugary juices or sugary soft drinks and can, therefore, help to improve the profile of drinks we drink. However, they should not forget that the advisable thing is to consume fruit and vegetables and that their intake does not equal those of these foods. In addition, it should be noted that some of the health allusions that are used ("detox", " forever young ", " the green medicine ") are completely out of place and not at all justified.

Source: Consumer