What Counts as a Fruit or Vegetable?

Just had to share my own joke:

Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit; Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.

Hee Hee Hee

Love the ketchup joke! You have to remember that when you count 'servings' its about the nutritional content...If its high is sodium (pickles) or sugar (juices, canned fruit etc.) NOT really going to count as anything more then empty calories as I learned to call them in HS. Maybe it would be fun to write all these ideas on post its and catergorize them as a family. This will also help the family make informative & healty choices. Also, to consider: steamed & boil veggies often take out the vitamins...perhaps raw or fresh should be a catergory too..PS my friend says than salsa is a blizzard lol

I would consider fruits and veggies that are whole as the variety that you want to eat. When you offer foods that come from a can or jar, they tend to do a lot of extra sugars, salts and preservatives. Would you kids enjoy cucumber spears, chopped red peppers with a dipping sauce, a baked sweet potato a peeled orange, roasted butternut squash or chopped apple. That's what I think about when offering fruits and vegetebles.
-www.weelicious.com

Nuts are nuts -not fruits or vegetables. They're good for you in small servings, but incredibly high in fat (it's usually good fat, but still you have to watch it) -nut products like nut butters are the same. Only fruits and vegetables are fruits and vegetables, therefore edamame, being a legume and therefore a vegetable counts as a veggie. Legumes/beans ARE vegetables and most are incredibly good for you -no fat/high fiber/high protein. You could argue that peanuts are a member of the legume family, but they still count as nuts. Fruit canned in syrups or sweetened juices technically count as fruits, but you're negating a lot of the good by adding that sugar into the mix. Just serve tangerines or clementines freshly peeled. Pickles and other "garnishment" like olives don't really count, and they're incredibly high in sodium which isn't great for you and will cause you to retain water. I love them, but veggie servings they aren't!

Juices don't count unless they say so on the label because they're freshly pressed or include much of the original fruit pulp and vitamins (like V8 Fusion). Most juices don't meet this criteria (kind of like me counting glasses of wine as servings of grapes ;-) Dried fruit DOES count, but again, be careful of the calorie and sugar content of some of it -the dehydration process REALLY concentrates it! Veggie Straws -no. Those are a great scheme to make people think they're eating healthy when they're actually more fattening than Lay's potato chips. No condiments except A LOT of salsa. Tomato sauce can count -but look on the label.

Basically your servings of fruit and vegetables are supposed to be fresh, unadulterated fruits and vegetables -not deep fried, dried only sometimes, not canned in sugary syrup or mixed in heavy fat cheese soup. Yes, sometimes the broccoli cheddar will contain a serving of broccoli, but the idea is to eat a healthier version of broccoli -in salad, steamed, etc. Frozen veggies and fruits are good. Fruit smoothies made with fat free milk and fat free Greek yogurt are fantastic for you and a wonderful way to get several servings of fruit in one pop.

Things with seeds, are a fruit.
But what about Zuchinni or Bell Peppers?
(I just looked online, and Bell Peppers are considered a "Fruit." But is treated as a "vegetable."
For Zucchini, it is "botanically" AND Biologically, a fruit, and comes from flowers. Same for Pumpkin)

Tomatoes they are are a fruit.

I guess, look online to see what a specific food item is, fruit or vegetable. Online has all the answers!

Beans/nuts are a different food category.

To me, whole foods, is best and nutritionally.
It if it just "bits" in a mix or spread or jelly or tiny bits in a cracker or cereal... that to me, is not a whole lot towards daily nutritional intake. Then there is also 'junk' food, that has TINY microscopic bits of fruit in it. That to me is not nutritional.

There there is "processed" foods with these things in it. Bits of it. That to me is not nutritional.

Look at the food pyramid... and it is ALSO per "serving size" of any said item..... a service size, can even be just HALF an apple. Not the whole apple. Or 1/2 cup of broccoli. Not a whole plate full.
So, 'serving size' is just as important per getting your required daily intake... and per, eating too much or not. Of it.
The food pyramid, is also according to FRESH fruits or veggies.

Your Husband, has to get familiar with 'serving sizes' and WHOLE FRESH foods.

To me, any 'processed' foods, is not the best, even if it does have said fruit or veggies in it.

Canned Mandarin oranges, sure. But I would drain it and wash the 'syrup' off it. Too much sugar. AND... "serving size" is NOT by "can"... it is by ounces or cups or tablespoons. And it does not compare... in quality and vitamins/nutrition.... to a WHOLE real Mandarin orange, that you peel and eat.

Um yah, smoothies are a type of "drink." Ketchup, is not a "drink." BUT it can be an 'ingredient' in a drink.

all the best,
Susan

If it has any "ingredients" other than the fruit or veggie itself, it doesn't count, IMO. Blueberry Toaster Pastries?! Dessert! Canned fruit in syrup? Dessert disguising itself as fruit! Broccoli and Cheddar Soup? Sorry, nope, that's a "soup" with more cheese than broccoli. However, if you boil a ton of broccoli in chicken stock, add a bit of seasonings, then puree into a creamy soup, THAT would count in my household. Lemonade? A soft drink. Ketchup? Well, I guess the US government would like us to think it's a veggie, but with tons of sugar and no fiber, really? A veggie? REALLY? Nuts, although healthy for you, falls under the "Good Fats" category, not veggie or fruit. And one serving of veggie or fruit is 1/2 cup of that. How many of the above mentioned things actually have 1/2 cup of a fresh fruit or veggie in it per serving? 1/2 cup of juice, unfortunately, counts as fruit. That's too bad, because it's so high in sugar (fructose) and has none of the fiber of a piece of fruit and is also much higher in calories. Dried fruits do count, but they are SOOO fattening because most of them are dried with palm oil and to get the equivalent of a serving of fresh fruit, you'd have to eat so much, you may as well eat a bowl of ice-cream!

Truly the easiest way to get 5 servings of fruit and veggie per day is to just eat the fresh fruit and veggie itself. A cup of strawberries, a handful of blueberries, a small apple, a couple of carrot sticks, a couple of celery sticks, roasted cauliflower/brussels sprouts/pearl onions tossed in a bit of olive oil, fresh papaya, mango, cherries with a dollop of Greek yogurt for an added protein kick, the list goes on and on. If it's purchased in the produce section, it counts. If it's in one of the inner isles, it's very iffy...

BTW, your daughter? Super cute!

According to Weight Watchers at least, many of the items you listed fall into categories that have points values, whereas a true serving of a fruit or vegetable in its natural state contains zero points and are unlimited in terms of how much you can eat. For example, a peach is zero points, but canned peaches in syrup have a point value because of all the added sugar. Yes, it's still a fruit, but you have to consider the way it is prepared or packaged. The closer something is to its natural state, the more health benefits you derive from it. So while pickles may be yummy, they are loaded with salt. You'd be better off just having sliced cucumber with some kind of dip, like hummus, instead. Start paying close attention to the nutrition labels of the foods you like, and compare different versions of the same item - chances are, you will be able to find a healthier version of many of your family's favorites. That's a good place to start.

I love your daughter's question! LOL

I go with the if-it's-in-the-produce-section-it's-a-fruit-or-veggie rule. Legumes (edamame, black beans, chick peas) are kind of veggies, but in a quasi-vegetarian house like mine they are used for protein sources and served alongside something green!

Nuts are nuts, not veggies--they are good for added protein and healthy fats.

I'm with you on the canned-stuff-doesn't-count issue (although when my daughter stopped eating any fruit I got desparate and bought some!). All the vitamins get cooked out and the sugar basically undoes any good that would be done by any fiber remaining in the fruit.

Juice does not count. There is no fiber. Fiber helps things that have sugar get absorbed in a way that is healthier than just having plain sugar, and juice, while it may contain some vitamins, is basically like mainlining sugar. Dried fruit has high sugar as well but at least retains fiber.

My daughter and I are potato addicts and my husband keeps trying to tell me that potatoes aren't vegetables. But they are in the produce section, so that counts in my book!

Happy debating! :)

I don't consider juice, tomato sauce, ketchup, fruit in syrup, candied covered anything, anything in brine, crunchy snacks, "veggies" in soups, processed soups, sweetened fruit, beans, nuts, and peanut butter...towards our daily fruits and vegetables. Why? Because they are processed in such a way that the beneficial parts are lessened. Tomato sauce doesn't have much nutritional value, ketchup has none. TONS of citric acid is added to those. Sweetened and crunchy snacks negate any nutritional value from the original fruit or vegetable. Brined veggies are totally full of sodium and should not count toward a veggie serving. Nuts and beans are just that, nuts and beans. The vegetables in soups are a joke and so incredibly processed there is nothing to them. The juicing process takes most of the nutritional value out of the fruits it contains. One should NEVER try to drink their fruits an veggies.

Actual WHOLE vegetables and fruits are the only things that should be considered a veggie and fruit serving. Anything else is a weak semi-substitution. About avocados, they are an incredibly source of nutrition. They have really great fats in them among other things. We eat avocados as much as possible here.

I was just delighted by your post. So nice to hear that a family is sitting together at dinner having a lively, engaged discussion about healthy eating. I think it's great it feels like I hear far too little of stories like that these days. And the ketchup smoothie question made me laugh, too.

I agree with so many of the posts already made (added sugar = doesn't count, veggie chips and other processed versions of veg don't count) that I won't go on too long here, but I do think dried fruit without added sugar should count. And in general eating the fruit instead of juice is better for you as you get fiber and other good stuff along with the sugar. And I'm with you on the canned mandarin oranges in syrup.

Thanks for sharing and good luck with the 5 a day.

Thanks for posting this. Will be educational for many.
I don't have anything to add that hasn't been said.
Love your daughter's quick wit!
Victoria

WE are studying that in the class that I am in so here goes.........anything that has a sees is considered a fruit that includes a tomato, cucumber, bell peppers, etc. Sounds were but the teacher assured me that this is the truth go figure

The fruit or vegetable, in it's whole form, with no added ingredients. That's what counts, imho. ANything else on the list is a pre-packaged, processed sugary/salty nightmare that is so far removed from the actual plant that it doesnt provide even a fraction of the benefits. What a great time to educate your kids about nutrition and how plant foods work in your body to build the immune system and rebuild and repair their bodies! I think it's awesome that you have discussions like this with your family. Keep the conversation going! I think that's probably more important than the actual eating of the vegetables...

1 Serving=1/2cup usually...
On a separate note:
"Pistachios, Pecans, Walnuts, Peanuts, Edamame (soy beans), Peanut Butter (all of which I think are counted as legumes not fruit or veggie), Canned Black Olives, Tomato Sauce on Pizza, Tomato Sauce mixed with ground turkey on pasta, Ketchup, Chick Peas, Black Beans, Guacamole, Fresh Salsa, Salsa from a Jar, Bits of Fruit found in cereals and granola, Jellies and Jams, Made from Fresh Fruit Spreads, Freeze Dried Strawberries, Bananas Chips, Dried Apricots, Dried Figs, Sulfured Mango, Dried Blueberries sweetened with apple juice, "----NO
Canned Artichokes, Jarred Hearts of Palm,--YES
Broccoli and Cheddar Soup, Carrot Ginger Soup from a box,The Carrots found in Canned Chicken Noodle Soup, --NO
Canned Peaches and Pears in light syrup, Butternut Squash Soup--MAYBE
Glasses of Apple Juice, Lemonade, 100% Fruit Juice Boxes, Orange Juice,--YES (except for lemonade)
Canned Mandarin Oranges in Syrup--Simple...buy them in their own juice, then YES
Mmmm...I think no on the pickles, but I could be wrong.

Common sense should prevail. The idea is to have 5 servings of healthy fruits and veggies. 1 serving = 1/2 cup of fruit or veggies, minus the other ingredients.

LOVE catsup = a tomato smoothie!!!

((You can make your own, btw, but it's a 3 day process... I have a colonial/revolutionary war cookbook that goes on at length *apologizing* at how long catsup takes to make but that a "prepared housewife" always wants to have it in her larder... so get a party of wives to do it to pass the time in jolly company)). Catsup is essentially pickled pureed tomatoes, and falls into a category of preserved perishables (along with most olives, and pickled cucumbers/ ginger/ beets/ meats/ etc.) known as "pickles". They still have some nutrients... but are NOT a serving of "fresh fruits or fresh vegetables". Ditto any DRIED fruits or veggies. They are *preserved* fruits and veggies (one can also argue about canning and freezing... it's all a percentages game. One needs more servings of preserved foods to = the nutritional base of fresh foods. RANDOMLY (as in not correct) say 2 servings of preserved foods : 1 serving of fresh. But preserved foods actually NEVER equal fresh... because volatile oils and nutrients are lost in the cooking process... whether you're "cooking" with heat, acid, sugar, or salts. ANY is better than none / will keep you from starving... but nutritionally the values are totally different. CAVEAT: Some veggies (and other foods, for that matter) HAVE to be cooked in order for us to get some or even *any* nutrients from them

The first several count as nuts... neither a fruit nor a vegetable, although it is the fruiting body of a tree or bush/ a tree embryo... nuts are their own classification.

All beans count as legumes, also their own classification, and are neither a fruit nor a veggie.

Many fruits in syrup (another method of preservation... preserving in sugar, although less sugar than in jams) are borderline between being considered "candied". Again, like in food preserved in salts, acids, bases, etc.... they are preserved foods. Better than none, but different from "fresh".

As far as dishes with fruits and veggies in them (soups, pastas, pastries, etc.) it REALLY depends on how much is in them and how they've been cooked.

Might i recommend "The Dictionary of Gastronomy" for your next library trip? Super fun book for those interested in food. Ditto an community college will have their Nutrition classes textbooks and software (the software lets you imput nearly every food known to man- fresh, preserved, prepared, prepackaged even by brand) and gives you all of the nutritional information associated with them. For dishes, one just imputs the ingredients and cooking practice (since again, all methods of cooking and preserving change the value... some better... some worse).

<grinning> To quote a certain famous Oliver:
Fooooooood GLORIOUS Fooooooood!

Seems like you need to add some other categories. Google food groups/categories, food pyramid to see which foods fall into each group. The first missing group in your post was nuts. Nuts are nuts; not a fruit or vegetable. I think pickles fall into the condiment group but I'm not sure.

Food that is canned, frozen, dried is still a fruit or vegetable. Nutrition is complicated. Those canned mandarin oranges are still a fruit. You figure the sugar content in how much sugar you're consuming. The sugar is separate from the fruit when you're figuring your nutrition amounts.

How many fruits or vegetable you eat is figured by serving size. I think 1/2 cup is the standard serving size. So.....if one eats a cup of green beans they've eaten 2 servings of vegetables.

Do google food groups. Look at the food pyramid. You'll find the answers there.

Maybe change your defination of your goal for fruits/vegetables. 1 serving being the size of your fist (maybe a fist and a half for the kids) and have it be in it's most whole, natural state. So fresh. But at least for veggies maybe cook them. Frozen is often great too beacuse they are selected at their most rip and in season which equals more nutrients. Combining these ingredients into a smoothie is a great idea. Ketchup is not terrible for you the concern is mostly sugar. But there are organic/no sugar added ketchups. I would not count it as a fruit/veggie serving but if my kids want to dip their veggies in ketchup I let them.

These are what I would say NO to for counting as a fruit or vegi:

Ketchup
Canned fruit in syrup (light syrup might be ok, but we don't buy that so i"m not sure).
Chocolate covered anything
Nuts of any kind (pistachios, pecans, peanut butter)
Canned/salted/pickled things (pickles and olives are a no)
Lemonade
Blueberry Toaster Pastries
Veggie straws
bits of fruit are not a serving

I think dried fruits are fine, I think fresh salsa is fine, canned salsa is probably ok once and a while (but not as a daily dose of vegi's), Guacamole is great (avocados are super healthy), soups for sure would count, even pasta with vegi's inside probably count if they are not chef boyarde.
Good luck!
J.

to me all the beans and nuts you listed are proteins and ketchup is a condament. to me a vegie is squash,corn, green beans, lettuce, cucumbers, those type of things. beans that you put in soup and hummus are proteins, fruits are kiwis watermelon barries bananas apples those things and i would say 1 apple, 1 banana 1 orange 1/2 grapefruit a small bunch of grapes like a 1/2 cup and 1/2 cup of barries 1/4 cup for little kids (under 12) and veggies 1/2 cup for adults and 1/2 cup for adults

http://www.mypyramid.gov/
The "official word" from the government :)

Our general rule is that if it comes out of a can or bag, and/or has sugar added, and or is not in it's original state it does not count.
When eating fruits and vegetables there is much more nutrition, enzymes, etc in the food if it is whole. For example: fruit juice is just the sugar and liquid from the fruit. But there is a lot more nutrition in the fiber and pulp of the fruit so she is only getting half the nutrition. Additionally, all fruit juice is pasteurized, just like milk, which means all the naturally occurring enzymes and vitamins are destroyed and added back in in a lab produced/synthetic form.
If she you are having difficulty getting her to eat all her fruits and veggies, one thing that we do is we make fruit and veggie smoothies in the morning that have over 8 fruits and vegetables. Our favorite has broccoli, spinach, cucumber, carrot, apple, strawberries, pineapple and banana. Our little one year old loves it and will drink a whole sippy cup full. However, I will add that most blenders cannot process this amount of vegetables and fruit, so you need high powered blender such as a Vitamix or Jack La Lane's version.
Tomato is a fruit, but ketchup is not considered a fruit. It has sugar added. Unfortunately, most school nutrition programs say that it is a fruit, but I cannot imagine that there is much nutrition on something with that much sugar much less cooked to death.

Thanks for posting this. Will be educational for many.
I don't have anything to add that hasn't been said.
Love your daughter's quick wit!
Victoria

personally, the dried fruit might count...all those beans, no. avocado yes, ketchup has added sugar, so no. anything w. added sugar-no. pickles, maybe....I think fresh should be added before the 5 fruits/veggies a day. that'll make it easier.

you can buy a book which has food serving counts..

Avacado, olives, and most tree nuts and peanut butter, if you are looking from a dieting perspective, all go in the fat category, although they count in more than one place.

Technically, you still get a serving of fruit, even if it is swimming in sugar, so you count both a fruit serving, and a sweets serving for a fruit canned in syryp. The fruit you get in a processed food is still "fruit" but you cannot take it out of the context, so if it is a flavoring for cereal of a pastry, you could not eat enough of the full product to consider that a serving of fruit. Pickles are veggies, and the serving size would depend on the size of the pickles, and would also depend on what type of pickle, if they are sweet pickles, you may be better off with the chocolate covered strawberry! You sitll can coun that berry as friut, but you also have to count the chocolate. As for the bits of carrots in soup, holy cow...not enough to make any difference. Ketchup is a condement, and you would far exceed your salt and sugar servings for the day if you ate enough of it to count as a veggie.

Here is what I would say to put an end to this symantic mess: If it does not look a whole lot like it did when it was picked, or it contains a serving of either sugar, fat, or sodium too, it does not count as either fruit or veggie.

M.

Canned fruit counts, but don't buy it in syrup, opt for no sugar added(and make sure there is no fake sugar either...sucralose and other garbage.). Nuts do not count...albeit healthy, they aren't fruits or veggies. No juices count unless 100% juice, nothing in it but fruit (health food stores like whole foods have many). Dried fruit counts...but if they are laden in sugar or chocolate obviously the health factor decreases. Carrots in canned soup count...but one can may not even contain 1 serving. Tomato sauce should count. I guess when they say 5 servings or what not, they are really talking about fresh, canned or frozen and not examining the fruit or veggie content of everything. Good idea on doing this!

that last line from your daughter about ketchup being a smoothie, made me laugh out loud. I love kids!

Anyway, that is a LONG list.
Nuts do not count. Most canned food is SO high in sodium, you shouldn't be eating it. As for fruit in syrup, I am in your camp. Too high in sugar. FYI kids aren't supposed to eat more than 12g a day of added sugar. Fruit & dairy don't count, because they are natural sugars (fructose & lactose).
Now back to the topic at hand.
NO: jellies & jams, beans, dried fruit in cereal, fruit juice (as there is no fiber, which is one of the huge benefits to fruits and veg), toaster pastries, veggie straws.
YES: guacamole, fresh salsa, dried fruit, hearts of palm, veg soups,
Best of luck with your eating!

Go to the source: the USDA guidelines can be found at mypyramid.gov. It shows lists of what foods fit in which categories, and what a serving size is (note that the USDA serving size is NOT necessarily the same serving size listed on a food label).
Do mandarin oranges count as a fruit? Of course they do. Do you want your kids to eat them? That's a personal decision. Just remember, all fruits have sugar. Find a chart that lists calories and sugars in fresh fruits and compare to the canned and dried varieties, and make your decisions based on facts.

The nuts are counted as legumes. If it has a seed, it's a fruit. If not, it's a veggie. Tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, etc are all fruits. Beans, peas, broccoli, etc are veggies.