Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Science/2017 January 22

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January 22

A diet rich in fruit and vegetables

Hi. I can find many sources asserting that it's advised to eat a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, but am not having luck finding any good sources that quantify exactly what that means. Loads of people eat "eat more" but how much is more? 30% of what you eat? 60%? 90%? Would appreciate any and all sources. 184.147.116.166 (talk) 23:54, 22 January 2017 (UTC)

You can look here to see if your present diet contains enough of the required vitamins, minerals, amino-acids and Omege-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids. But you need to build in safety margins, not everyone absorbs nutrients from foods as well, also some foods contain compunds that block absorption, e.g. oxalate in spinach will prevent your body from absorbing most of the calcium contained in it. You can deal with this by eating a wide variety of vegetables instead of depending on just a few to get some particular nutrients from. E.g. 100 grams of broccoli contains the following vitamins:

• Vitamin A 1548IU 31%
• Retinol 0.0 mcg
• Retinol Activity Equivalent 77.0 mcg
• Alpha Carotene 0.0 mcg
• Beta Carotene 929mcg
• Beta Cryptoxanthin 0.0mcg
• Lycopene 0.0mcg
• Lutein+Zeaxanthin 1080mcg
• Vitamin C 64.9mg108%
• Vitamin D~ ~
• Vitamin E (Alpha Tocopherol) 1.5mg7%
• Beta Tocopherol 0.0 mg
• Gamma Tocopherol 0.3 mg
• Delta Tocopherol 0.0 mg
• Vitamin K 141 mcg 176%
• Thiamin 0.1mg 4%
• Riboflavin 0.1 mg 7%
• Niacin 0.6 mg 3%
• Vitamin B 60.2 mg 10%
• Folate 108 mcg 27%
• Food Folate 108 mcg
• Folic Acid 0.0 mcg
• Dietary Folate Equivalents 108 mcg
• Vitamin B12 0.0 mcg 0%
• Pantothenic Acid 0.6 mg6%
• Choline 40.1mg
• Betaine 0.1mg

It contains the following amino-acids:

• Tryptophan 34.0 mg
• Threonine 96.0 mg
• Isoleucine 92.0 mg
• Leucine 147 mg
• Lysine 155 mg
• Methionine 43.0 mg
• Cystine 31.0 mg
• Phenylalanine 116 mg
• Tyrosine 60.0 mg
• Valine 138 mg
• Arginine 200 mg
• Histidine 63.0 mg
• Alanine 114 mg
• Aspartic acid 329 mg
• Glutamic acid 549 mg
• Glycine 101 mg
• Proline 111 mg
• Serine 129 mg
• Hydroxyproline~

Minerals:

• Calcium 40.0 mg 4%
• Iron 0.7 mg 4%
• Magnesium 21.0 mg 5%
• Phosphorus 67.0 mg 7%
• Potassium 293 mg 8%
• Sodium 41.0 mg 2%
• Zinc 0.5 mg 3%
• Copper 0.1 mg 3%
• Manganese 0.2 mg 10%
• Selenium 1.6 mcg 2%
• Fluoride 4.0 mcg

Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids:

• Total Omega-3 fatty acids 119 mg
• Total Omega-6 fatty acids 51.0 mg

Count Iblis (talk) 00:58, 23 January 2017 (UTC)

Thank you. Can you link directly to the page you are referring to at the nutritiondata site? I cannot find anything there re amounts of fruits and vegetables; it seems all about calories which is not my interest. 184.147.116.166 (talk) 17:58, 23 January 2017 (UTC)

You need to scroll down, you then see the additional details on vitamins and minerals, you can then click on "mode details" to get more precise data. Count Iblis (talk) 23:56, 23 January 2017 (UTC)

The 5 A Day page says the WHO recommend "a minimum of 400g of fruit and vegetables per day (excluding potatoes and other starchy tubers)." --TrogWoolley (talk) 13:56, 23 January 2017 (UTC)

Thank you. I think that number must come from this page, which interestingly does not say the total weight of food recommended, although it gives percentages for other types of food such as sugar. Perhaps the WHO feels that people who eat fewer calories need a higher percentage of fruit and vegetables than people who eat more calories? On the other hand, I do see some (not good sources) saying people generally eat 1500-2000 g of food per day. If true, that would make the 400 g recommendation a rather modest percentage. 184.147.116.166 (talk) 17:58, 23 January 2017 (UTC)

Yes, it's best to treat the 400 grams of fruits and vegetables as a minimum amount. I eat a lot more than average, about 4000 Kcal and I'll have at least 500 grams of vegetables, yesterday I had 800 grams of spinach that I ate with 1 kg of potatoes for dinner. I eat a lot of fruits, e.g. two bananas, 2 apples and some oranges during the day. Also note that nuts should be included in the diet, I eat 100 grams of walnuts every day. Count Iblis (talk) 02:51, 24 January 2017 (UTC)

When targeting to lose weight, first see low-carbohydrate diet or its harder version called ketogenic diet and learn basics of how the liver works and how to avoid diabetes mellitus without other cause than food. --Hans Haase (有问题吗) 21:37, 26 January 2017 (UTC)

Low-carb diet will cause your arteries to clog. Count Iblis (talk) 22:17, 26 January 2017 (UTC)