Instead of focusing on a numerical goal by filling up on vegetables, the naturopathic doctor and registered dietitian Jaime Schehr, ND, RD, recommends thinking of your eating habits in terms of percentages. “I recommend eating 50% vegetables, or at least 50% plant-based foods, of which at least 30% are vegetables,” he suggests. “Visually, it’s much easier to think of each meal or snack and estimate how much is coming from vegetables.”
If you’re a numbers person, the USDA Guidelines I recommend consuming between 2 to 4 cups of vegetables each day. The exact amount varies by age and gender, and variety is encouraged in several key categories: dark green; red and orange; beans, peas and lentils; starchy; and other vegetables (plus lots of examples of what actually constitutes 1 cup depending on whether the particular vegetable is fresh, cooked, frozen, chopped, etc.)
Aiming for the highest will always be your best bet, but this just goes to show that you really can’t. go overboard with vegetables.
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