Q. I understand I'm supposed to eat at least 5 or more servings of fruits and vegetables a day. That seems like an awful lot. How can I do it?
A. Trying to visualize ½ cup? Not a problem. A half cup of vegetables or fruit is about half the size of a baseball. Juice counts, too. Try low-sodium, unsweetened 100% fruit juice or vegetable juice. Remember 4 ounces is ½ cup.
Include vegetables and fruit at every meal and eat them for snacks, too.
Eating 2½ cups of vegetables and fruits or more each day may not be that hard to do when you think about it.
· 1 side salad at lunch = 1 cup
· 1 medium piece of fruit = 1 cup
· Juice at breakfast = ½ to 1 cup
Add fruit to your cereal and have a glass of juice at breakfast; add lettuce and tomato to your sandwich at lunch; and have a salad and cooked vegetable with dinner – and there’s your 2½ cups for the day!
Para solicitar información en español, llame al 1-800-227-2345. Un especialista en información sobre el cáncer le asistirá en español.
See sample diet below.
Q. That seems reasonable. But how do I remember how many servings I've eaten?
A. You might try using bracelets to help your remember. Every morning put 10 bracelets on one wrist. As you eat a fruit or veggie, switch a bracelet to the other wrist until all the bracelets have been moved. You can also use 5 bracelets and move them twice.
Para solicitar información en español, llame al 1-800-ACS-2345. Un especialista en información sobre el cáncer le asistirá en español.