ARS | Publication request: Nutritional quality of fruits, nuts, and vegetables and their importance in human health

Submitted to: Agriculture Handbook
Publication Type: Government Publication
Publication Acceptance Date: January 15, 2004
Publication Date: April 1, 2004
Repository URL: http://www.ba.ars.usda.gov/hb66/contents.html
Citation: Kader, A., Perkins Veazie, P.M., Lester, G.E. 2004. Nutritional quality of fruits, nuts, and vegetables and their importance in human health. USDA Handbook 66. Available: http://www.ba.ars.usda.gov/hb66/contents.html.

Interpretive Summary: Obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and osteoporosis are chronic human diseases that are greatly affected by diet. Fruits, vegetables, and nuts contain many vitamins and non-nutritive compounds found to be useful in preventing these chronic diseases. Specific sources of vitamins and wellness compounds, and the diseases they can affect are provided in this paper.

Technical Abstract: Fruits, vegetables, and nuts contain nutrients and non-nutrients important to human health. Increasing evidence suggests that ingestion of whole foods is much more beneficial to human health than ingestion of dietary supplements derived from one or more compounds found in plants. Plant food sources of vitamin and phytonutrients and their relative importance to humans are listed.