Question: Why do we need more fruit, vegetables and starchy foods than anything else?

Chris Armstrong answered on 22 Jun 2015:

It’s all about balance.

We need a little of everything, because different tasks within the body need different “fuels” to be completed. On a general level we need energy to move, so carbs and sugars can help there, we need proteins to repair muscles, we need fibre to aid our digestion, and so on.

The fruit/veg/starch get us a combination of things we need, they supply a little fibre and a little energy but on top of that they supply vital nutrients the body can’t create by itself – Vitamins. These do a range of things in the body, from helping vision, to preventing sun burn, and all of them we can make from scratch hence the need to eat a wide range of fruit and veg in order to maintain healthy living.

The old idiom about eating your greens to become big and strong is not wrong.

**Bonus
If like most people you dislike broccoli, you can jazz it up into possibly the best veg out there. Chop the florets off into a small roasting pan splash a little olive oil over them with a sprinkle of salt and chilli flakes, roast for around 15mins and then serve with a little bit of lime juice. The sad vegetable you once hated has become a firey-salty-sweet stack of awesome. You are welcome.