Warren County Guide to Physical Activity

 
Why 5-A-Day?

The Amazing Health Benefits of Produce

Eating 5-a-day (servings of fruits and vegetables) may be the most important nutritional change you can make. Exciting research keeps pouring in showing the amazing health benefits that produce offers us. Here is a brief summary of how fruits and vegetalbles are able to enhance your health.

1. Prevent Cancer. Produce is rich in naturally occuring antioxidants and other phytochemicals that help to detoxify cancer-causing substances and protect against free radicals (tiny molecules) that can damage cells and initiate cancer. A diet rich in fruits and vegetables can reduce your chances of getting cancer by 30-40%.

2. Prevent Heart Disease. Eating more fruits and vegetables can help to lower fat and cholesterol which damage your heart and arteries. They provide soluble fiber, which helps lower blood cholesterol. Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the U.S. claiming more than 960,000 lives per year. Eating 5 or more fruits and vegetables every day reduces your chance of heart disease by 20-40%.

3. Lower Blood Pressure. Diets rich in fruits and vegetables provide the body with more potassium and magnesium, which lower the blood pressure. High blood pressure damages your heart and arteries, and leads to heart disease and strokes. It is known as the "silent killer" because most people with high blood pressure do not have any outward signs of it. Yet it can suddenly lead to death from heart disease or stroke. About 43 million Americans have high blood pressure.

4. Prevent Strokes. A heart-healthy diet rich in fruits and vegetables keeps your arteries healthy too, and reduces your chance of stroke by 25%. Stroke is a blockage of the arteries going to your brain, so that part or all of the brain's oxygen is cut off, leading to brain cell damage or death. Stroke is the third leading cause of death in the U.S. killing about 160,000 of the 500,000 people who experience a stroke each year.

5. Keep Trim. Filling up on high fiber, low calorie fruits and vegetables is a great way to keep trim. Eating lots of produce displaces high calorie foods from your diet. Fiber makes you chew more, and adds to your sense of fullness and satisfaction from eating. Most vegetables have less than 50 calories in a whole cup (8 ounces), as compared to a small cookie or just 5 potato chips.

6. Prevent Blindness. Eating fruits and vegetables may lower your risk of two of the most common causes of adult blindness: cataracts and macular degeneration. Research has shown a 5-fold reduction in cataracts among people who eat more than 1.5 servings of produce per day.

7. Avoid Diverticulosis. This is a painful and debilitating disease caused by development of small herniations or outpouchings in the intestinal wall. It affects one-third of adults over 50, and two-thirds of those over 80. The best defense against this disease is to eat plenty of high-fiber fruits and vegetables.

8. Prevent Diabetes and its Complications. Keeping your weight down (by eating a healthy diet) can help prevent type 2 (adult) diabetes. An additional benefit of the soluble fiber in produce is to help people who have diabetes to control their blood sugar better. Diabetics also have great risk for high cholesterol and heart disease, so the fiber is important for these dangers as well. Diabetes is the 7th leading cause of death in the U.S.