Did you know that you're supposed to be eating between five and nine servings of fruits and vegetables every single day, according to the guidelines set out by the United States government? Does this sound like a lot to you? Actually, it can be easy to fit in five to nine servings of fruits and vegetables every day if you consider a few simple ways of doing this. The fact that there are so many fruits and vegetables available to you is one thing to consider! Store shelves typically carry a wide variety, and they're usually affordable and of course very good for you. If you consider having a wide variety of fruits and vegetables you can see how easy it would be to incorporate them into your daily menu plans.

When talking about five to nine "servings" of fruits and vegetables every day, it's also good to remember how much a serving actually is and how you want to mix this up between fruits and vegetables. Two cups of fruit and only two and a half cups of vegetables is really all you need to get those proper servings every single day. With the wide variety of both available to you, it should be easy to work this relatively small amount into your daily eating and meals.

Having a variety of fruits and vegetables is one great way to be sure you have enough every day. If you were to eat the same choices day in and day out, you would probably soon get bored with those items. Not only will having a wide variety of fruits and vegetables keep you from getting bored, it will also mean getting all the nutrients you need from them as well.

How can you be sure you're getting a variety of fruits and vegetables? One way is to be sure to shop for different colors! Fruits and vegetables have different colors for a reason - they all have different nutrients, and the variety of nutrients is expressed in the variety of colors. If you have different colors of fruits and vegetables every day, you know you'll be getting a variety of vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and so on.

Learning different ways of preparing your fruits and vegetables will also mean avoiding boredom with them. You can try different salad mixes and different ways of preparing both raw and cooked fruits and vegetables.

Trying out recipes and new ways of preparing fruits and vegetables can also mean that you'll be less timid about things you've never eaten before. For instance, you can experiment with more exotic fruit like mangoes or star fruit, or with vegetables you've never tried like kale or artichoke hearts.

Eating fresh and cooked vegetables everyday is vital to your health; just taking a vitamin supplement is not a good substitute for doing this. Yes, you can get some of the more important nutrients like Vitamins A, C and E from supplements and pills, but you would be missing out on the many nutrients in fruits and vegetables that just cannot be found in pill form. There are literally hundreds of vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and what are called micronutrients that are contained in fruits and vegetables and which you just cannot get through a synthesized alternative.

And think of the cost! Supplements are usually very expensive whereas fresh items from the produce section are not. You can probably save even more by buying items that are in season and which have been grown locally. So not only is eating those fruits and vegetables better for you, it's also better for your wallet!

So if you're still thinking that five to nine servings of fruits and vegetables every day is a goal you cannot reach, think again! If you make some reasonable efforts to include these as snacks or as side dishes, you may be surprised at how much you enjoy them and how healthy you actually are!