Australian Dietary Guidelines - Summary - National Health and ...

guideline 2Tuck into vegetables and fruitVegetables, legumes/beans and fruit provide vitamins, minerals, dietary fibre and manyhundreds of phytonutrients (nutrients naturally present in plants). Most vegetables,legumes/beans and fruit are low in energy (kilojoules) relative to many other foods, andmay help ‘fill us up’ to avoid excessive weight gain too.Dietary patterns high in vegetables, legumes/beans and fruit can help protect us againstchronic diseases including heart disease, stroke and some types of cancers. They may alsoprevent excessive weight gain.The scientific evidence of the health benefits of eating vegetables and fruit has been reportedfor decades and continues to strengthen. Different vegetables can help protect the body indifferent ways, so it’s important to choose a variety of colours, particularly:• green (such as broccoli, spinach)• orange (such as carrots, pumpkin, sweet potatoes)• yellow and red (such as capsicum, tomatoes).It is also important to include different types of vegetables, for example from the leaves androots of plants, and legumes such as dried peas, beans, lentils and chickpeas.Fresh, frozen, canned or dried varieties of vegetables and fruit are all suitable foods. Check theingredients list and choose varieties of canned vegetables without added salt and cannedfruit in natural juice, not syrup.Vegetables and fruit to limitFruit juices provides energy (kilojoules) but mostlack dietary fibre. They are acidic and frequentconsumption may contribute to an increased riskof dental erosion. Dried fruit can also stick tothe teeth and increase the risk of tooth decay.For these reasons, fruit juice and dried fruit shouldbe consumed only occasionally and in smallamounts. Fruit juice should not be given to infantsless than 12 months of age.The intake of some salted, dried, fermented orpickled vegetables has been associated with anincreased risk of some cancers, so intake ofthese foods should be limited.Also limit intake of fried vegetables such as potatoand vegetable chips and crisps, which add extrakilojoules and salt. Chips and crisps are includedin ‘discretionary choices’ (see pages 27 and 34).14