Health Benefits of Fruits and Vegetables †Free Samples to Students

Question: Discuss about the Health Benefits of Fruits and Vegetables. Answer: Introduction: The Australian Dietary guidelines provide guidance to the consumption of various types of food across different age groups. For my age category, the guideline recommends 6 servings of vegetables and 2 servings of fruits each day. However, the consumption of fruits and vegetables chiefly depends on their availability, due to which it is important to include a wide variety in the fruits and vegetables consumed. My consumption of Fruits and Vegetables and Reflections on national Guidelines: Based on the three day dietary history record, my dietary intakes included: 1 serving of fruit and 2 servings of vegetables on day 1 3 servings of fruit but no vegetable on day 2 2 servings each of fruits and vegetables on day 3 The dietary intake is in accordance to the Australian Dietary Observations, which showed that Australians need to consume more vegetables and fruits, especially oranges, broccoli, sweet potato, leafy vegetables, lentils and capsicum. Also, Australia is a developed country, due to which accessibility to a wide array of affordable and nutritious food can be improved. However, factors like workplace conditions, accessibility and affordability often are a challenge towards the access of quality food as well as to the intake of fruits and vegetables. The strategies that I can utilize to improve my consumption of fruits and vegetables includes purchasing fresh as well as frozen fruits and vegetables to ensure at least 2 servings of each in every meal and including fruits as a part of the deserts and also as a part of snacks (between main meals). According to studies, fruits and vegetables are important dietary components due to the high content of dietary fiber as well as different types of vitamins, minerals and complex phytochemicals (Slavin Lloyd, 2012). Restricted or inadequate consumption of fruits and vegetables have also been shown to be related to the occurrence of cardiovascular disease. Therefore, the recommended servings of fruits and vegetables are aimed to lower such risks and prevent their occurrence (Payne et al., 2012). The quiz score shows a need for effective strategies to increase the consumption of fruits and vegetables, in compliance to the Australian Guidelines on dietary intake. A key factor to ensure this is by increasing the variety in the consumption of low density vegetables which can increase the intake of fiber. Also, consumption of a plateful of vegetables during meals, or increasing the size of the servings can also increase vegetable consumption in each serving. Another method of increase the consumption of fiber is by consuming cold dishes which includes different types of fruits and vegetables as garnishing. This way, cereals and other proteins can be garnished with a mixture of different types of vegetables and thus ensure maximum intake. Also, heavy garnishing can include items such as grated carrots, marinated root vegetables and increasing the ratio of fruits and vegetables compared to the intake of meat and proteins can further maximize the intake of dietary fiber in mixed dishes. For meals served hot, meat stews and stick fries containing mixed vegetables and fruits can incorporate additional flavors to the food and also reduce the quantity of food consumed (Wang et al., 2014). Furthermore, including fruits and vegetables in snacks at work place can also help to ensure that I consume the required daily amount of servings. Studies have also shown that consumption of fruits and vegetables in the workplace can help to improve the behavioral and environmental factors which affect their intake (Miller et al., 2016). Other studies have shown that inclusion of vegetables in meals can help to limit the intake and effect of variety of foods (Leenders et al., 2015). Such a condition further depends on the perceptions of an individual which influences the degree of satiation and also can account for their differences among people. Therefore, to ensure an overall improvement in my dietary intake, including both fruits and vegetables and increasing the overall servings can be effective strategies to meet the required dietary intake as recommended by Australian Heath Department (Australian Dietary Guidelines, 2013). Social and Cultural Determinants that affects my intake of fruits and vegetables: It is well understood that consumption of fruits and vegetables is vital to supply the required amounts of carbohydrates, fat, protein and minerals in our diet. The nutritional values of fruits and vegetables are further increased by their overall micronutrient content. Also, regional factors like the distribution of fruits and vegetables also have shown to have differential effects. Also, the effects on the national culture as well as social aspects are also significant since it is related to the habits of the individual as well as the society over a length of time. This makes the assessment of the contributing factors very difficult and challenging to analyze (Dijikstra et al., 2018). Healthy consumption of fruits and vegetables also can signify a happy life, and is therefore an important strategy towards healthy living. The change in the patterns of consumption can also be related to improvement in the social life, eating behaviours of individuals and consumption of traditional food. Hence the social constructs of food choices and lifestyle can have significant effect in the trend and the patterns of food consumption (Fernandez-Alvira et al, 2015). The Socio-cultural aspects also have immense effect on the selection, purchase and the consumption of this food by affecting the eating behaviour of individuals. Also factors like gender, employment, economic status, social status, marital status can have a direct effect in the intake of food and plays a vital role in the selection of food in a global scale (Antin, 2012). These findings show how socio cultural factors can affect my overall consumption of fruits and vegetables. These factors also can determine my attitude, habits and disclosure related to food choice, consumption and eating habits. These also had significant influence on me since my childhood, hampering the goal of achieving the recommended dietary intake of food (Drewnowski, Adam Colin, 2015). Thus it is imperative that food choices to be properly informed, and decisions related to diet choices should be based upon the psychosocial factors, cultural background and the overall equilibrium of other factors that influences the eating habits of people. At a personal level, my dietary choices are also affected by my lifespan, nutritional habits and also by immediate environment. To overcome the economic constraints in the purchase of food, it can be helpful to identify different types of fruits and vegetables which have high nutritional value while being easy to access and at a cheaper price. This can help to bridge the gap between the dietary requirements and the affordability of quality food (Darmon Adam, 2015). Understanding the social determinants that influences my food selection process, it is vital that I ensure that my socio economic factors do not affect my selection of food, and enable the maintenance of the quality of food intake related to fruits and vegetables. Adopting nutrition sensitive and nutrition aware culture and adhering to the dietary recommendations can be key components in the process of adopting a healthy food habit. There is also the need to improving the eating behaviors, since it also affects my social life. Incorporating dietary habits which increases the intake of fruits and vegetables without the prejudice of peers can be the key to enhance the nutrition status and thus my overall health. Since culture has an impact on the choice of food, I intend to embrace the culture of involving serving of fruits and vegetables in my daily meals and thus improve my score by consuming at least 6 servings of vegetables and 2 servings of fruits every day and thereby achieve a g ood nutrient status in my regular diet, and ensure maximum benefit from the dietary change. References: Antin, T. M., Hunt, G. (2012). Food choice as a multidimensional experience. A qualitative study with young African American women. Appetite, 58(3), 856-863. Australian dietary guidelines, ministyr of health, (2013). Accssed at https://www.nhmrc.gov.au/guidelines-publications/n55 On 19/04/2018. Darmon, N., Drewnowski, A. (2015). Contribution of food prices and diet cost to socioeconomic disparities in diet quality and health: a systematic review and analysis. Nutrition reviews, 73(10), 643-660. Dijkstra, S. C., Neter, J. E., Brouwer, I. A., Huisman, M., Visser, M., van Lenthe, F. J., Kamphuis, C. B. (2018). Socio-economic differences in the change of fruit and vegetable intakes among Dutch adults between 2004 and 2011: the GLOBE study. Public health nutrition, 1-13. Drewnowski, A., Rehm, C. D. (2015). Socioeconomic gradient in consumption of whole fruit and 100% fruit juice among US children and adults. Nutrition journal, 14(1), 3. Fernndez-Alvira, J. M., Brnhorst, C., Bammann, K., Gwozdz, W., Krogh, V., Hebestreit, A., ... Veidebaum, T. (2015). Prospective associations between socio-economic status and dietary patterns in European children: the Identification and Prevention of Dietary-and Lifestyle-induced Health Effects in Children and Infants (IDEFICS) Study. British Journal of Nutrition, 113(3), 517-525. Leenders, M., Siersema, P. D., Overvad, K., Tjnneland, A., Olsen, A., Boutron?Ruault, M. C., ... Boeing, H. (2015). Subtypes of fruit and vegetables, variety in consumption and risk of colon and rectal cancer in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition. International journal of cancer, 137(11), 2705-2714. Miller, V., Yusuf, S., Chow, C. K., Dehghan, M., Corsi, D. J., Lock, K., ... Mony, P. (2016). Availability, affordability, and consumption of fruits and vegetables in 18 countries across income levels: findings from the Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiology (PURE) study. The Lancet Global Health, 4(10), e695-e703. Payne, M. E., Steck, S. E., George, R. R., Steffens, D. C. (2012). Fruit, vegetable, and antioxidant intakes are lower in older adults with depression. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 112(12), 2022-2027. Slavin, J. L., Lloyd, B. (2012). Health benefits of fruits and vegetables. Advances in nutrition, 3(4), 506-516. Wang, X., Ouyang, Y., Liu, J., Zhu, M., Zhao, G., Bao, W., Hu, F. B. (2014). Fruit and vegetable consumption and mortality from all causes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer: systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies. Bmj, 349, g4490.