HOW FRUITY SHOULD YOU BE

A 3-step guide to know how much of fruit and vegetable should a man consume daily.

Step 1: Find out the group you fall in out of the three given below, based on your physical activity level. Remember the word `physical activity’ refers to the activities you do other than the light activity involved in completing tasks of daily living.

Less active group: You average less than 30 mins of physical activity a day.Moderately active group: You average 30-60 mins of physical activity a day.Active group: You average more than 60 mins of physical activity a day.

Step 2: Now that you know the physical activity group you come under, find out which age group you fall in, out of the groups A, B or C given below. Once you have tracked your age group, you will also know how many cups of fruits/vegetables you should consume daily.

Note-Your physical activity level and age determine how many calories you need per day and your calorie needs determine how many fruits and vegetables you should eat per day.

GROUP A,

Men aged 19–30 years

Less Active————> Fruit 2 cups——> Veg 3 cups

Moderately Active—-> Fruit 2 cups——> Veg 3.5 cups

Active——————> Fruit 2.5 cups—> Veg 4 cups

GROUP B,

Men aged 31–50 years

Less Active————–> Fruit 2 cups—–> Veg 3 cups

Moderately Active——> Fruit 2 cups—–> Veg 3 cups

Active——————–> Fruit 2.5 cups—> Veg 3.5 cups

GROUP C,

Men aged 51+ years

Less Active———–> Fruit 2 cups——–> Veg 2.5 cups

Moderately Active—> Fruit 2 cups——–> Veg 3 cups

Active—————–> Fruit 2 cups——–> Veg 3 cups

Finally, what qualifies as a cup?

One cup refers to a common measuring cup, with a volume between 200-240 ml depending on the country eg a standard Indian measuring cup is 200 ml, whereas in US its 237-240 ml.

A Veg Cup: In general, 1 cup of raw or cooked vegetables or 100% vegetable juice, or 2 cups of raw leafy greens can be considered as 1 cup from the vegetable group.

A Fruit Cup: One cup of fresh fruit or 100% fruit juice, or ½ cup of dried fruit can be considered as 1 cup from the fruit group.

Ryan Fernando is an Award-winning celebrity Sports Nutritionist with 2GUINNESS world record and 2 Olympic medals under his belt. His client list include Olympic wrestler Sushil Kumar, cricketer Shikhar Dhawan & bollywood superstars Aamir Khan & Abhishek Bachchan. He is Chief Nutritionist at QUA Nutrition Signature Clinics.