Just for fun, I wanted to share with you all a few statistics on the amount of vegetables people in the United States consume:

1. A 2005 survey of 350,000 adults found that the average American adult eats 1.6 servings of fruit and 3.2 servings of vegetables daily—well below the 3 to 5 servings of fruit and 4 to 8 servings of vegetables recommended by U.S. Dietary Guidelines.
2. The average American high school student eats less than 2 servings of fruit and 2 servings of vegetables daily.
3. A 2007 Johns Hopkins study found that vegetable consumption in the U.S. is declining—even when scientists counted French fries as vegetables!
4. Even after heavy promotion of the benefits of fruits and vegetables by a 2009 government campaign, not a single state met the target numbers for desired fruit and vegetable consumption in 2010.
5. In many school districts, ketchup counts as a vegetable in meeting the daily required vegetable intake for children.

Are you depressed yet?  I hope not!  But if so, try adding a whole foods supplement such as PureNutrition to your daily routine to put the statistics in their place.

Sources

• How Many Fruits and Vegetables Do You Eat?
• Americans Eating Fewer Vegetables
• State-Specific Trends in Fruit and Vegetable Consumption Among Adults—United States, 2000–2009
• Does a Packet of Ketchup Count as a Vegetable?

Last week, makers of corn syrup petitioned the FDA to be allowed to list their product on food labels under the name “corn sugar”.  This is a (deceptive) marketing move to improve sales of corn syrup since many big food producers have replaced corn syrup in their products with sugar due to customer demand.  Here is a New York Times article with more info: click here for article

The FDA has 6 months to respond to the name change petition, and if accepted (I personally hope it will not be), then the formal decision of whether to allow “corn sugar” on labels would take place in 12 to 18 months.  While all high-calorie sweeteners can lead to obesity and diabetes, high fructose corn syrup is especially harmful.  Here are some of the issues with corn syrup to be aware of:

• It is usually made from genetically modified corn.
• It is a highly processed food.
• The production of corn syrup requires the use of a plethora of chemicals that are harmful to the environment, some of which may remain in trace levels in the finished product.
• It contains high levels of fructose (fruit sugar), which can only be metabolized by the liver.  Fructose was not an issue for our ancestors who obtained small amounts of it in fruit and whole foods.  In today’s world, however, high fructose corn syrup is hidden in so many foods that people may not realize they are overloading their liver.  Excessive intake of fructose contributes to fatty liver disease and other liver problems.

Serve a platter of fresh cut-up vegetables (bell peppers, carrots, celery, snap peas, etc.) with meals or as a snack.  Include natural ranch dressing or hummus for dipping, if desired.

1. Incorporate finely chopped, sautéed vegetables into foods your child already likes.  Ideas include onions in hamburgers, zucchini and spinach in lasagna, or carrots and celery in chicken soup.
2. Incorporate vegetable purees into soups, sauces and baked goods.  It works best to include vegetables of similar color and flavor, for example pureed winter squash in macaroni and cheese or pureed carrots in tomato soup.  Ideas for pairings can be found all over the internet or in Jessica Seinfeld’s book Deceptively Delicious.
3. Leafy greens are sometimes difficult to hide in other foods because of their strong flavor but they are incredibly nutritious.  If your child hasn’t warmed up to the idea of cold salads (which is okay for young children – their immature digestive systems may have a hard time digesting raw leafy greens), try serving leafy greens such as spinach, kale, or chard steamed or sautéed with a little bit of butter or coconut oil.  The added fat will add taste and actually increase absorption of the nutrients in the leafy greens!

One of the best ways to make sure your kids are eating vegetables is to do so yourself – they are always watching what adults and the rest of the family are eating and if they see you enjoying healthy foods it is more likely that they will at least give it a try.

Many people choose either the original or yeast-free version of PureNutrition (our whole foods supplement) based on taste – original has a slightly savory flavor, and yeast-free is sweet.  However, there are also minor ingredient differences as well as one major nutritional difference: original contains nutritional yeast while the yeast-free (obviously) does not. 

Nutritional yeast is an excellent source of protein and B vitamins, especially for vegetarians.  It should not be confused with candida albicans, the yeast that causes yeast infections and other health problems.  However, people with yeast allergy still need to be careful to avoid all forms of yeast including nutritional yeast.

Here is a link to a short article with more of the benefits of nutritional yeast:
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/nutritional-yeast-benefits.html

Enjoy!