Nutritionists recommend a diet including lots of fruit and vegetables.
Would it be adequate to have a diet including lots of fruit and other fruit, or alternatively vegetables and other vegetables?
In: Biology
Not at all. Fruits are mostly high in sugar and simple carbohydrates while vegetables tend to have more starches and fiber. There is some cross-over, but as a rule of thumb your 5 q day should be no more than 1 or 2 fruit, and the other 3 or 4 veg. They should also be a mix of different types- getting them all in leafy greens won’t give you a balanced mix of vitamins/minerals.
Generally, true vegetables have a lower sugar content. But, the carbs in fruit are important.
It’s not a hard and fast rule, but fruit tends to be more calorically dense and blood-sugar raising than vegetables. Better to eat lots of fruit than lots of pastries (for example), but veggies are generally a good choice for those looking to lose excess body fat. They tend to be both higher in fiber and lower in sugar/calories than fruit, both of which help keep blood sugar levels lower.
I work with nutrition clients, and I recommend lots of both fruits and veggies, but for those focused on losing weight, I generally recommend eating as many veggies as they like, and keeping fruit to a capped amount. No one has ever become obese from eating too much broccoli or spinach, but eating lots of grapes (for example) may lead to a caloric surplus and blood sugar spikes. Again, still better than blood sugar spikes from cookies and ice cream.
And I work with our “common” understanding of fruits and veggies, not the dictionary definition. Berries, grapes, apples, oranges, bananas (yes, I know they’re berries), etc. = fruit. Leafy things, stalky things, peppers and tomatoes (yes, I know they’re both fruits), etc. = veggies.
We don’t know. For long term studies, people usually eat both fruit and veg. There aren’t going to be many studies for someone just eating vegetables.
So what we do know is that people who eat both fruit and veg have better health outcomes. There are lots of reasons to think having a varied diet is best for health.
So we do have good evidence that people who both fruit and veg have good health outcomes, but we don’t have good evidence that you can just eat veg alone and have the same benefits.
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