You know the importance of eating plenty of fruits and vegetables. During the summertime it's easy--a salad is perfect when it's too hot to cook, or along with that grilled burger you eat an ear of corn, tomato slices, and watermelon for dessert. But by winter the only vegetables on your plate are potatoes.

If this sounds familiar you may not be getting all the protective benefits that produce can provide against disease. A recent study in Public Health Nutrition points out that maintaining fruit and vegetable intake throughout the year is something that everyone can do to reduce their risk of disease.
This seven-year study included men and women, ages 35 to 75, who reported their usual intakes of fruits and salad vegetables, such as leafy greens, tomatoes, and cucumbers, during the summer and winter months. Not surprisingly, more people ate salad vegetables and fruits on a daily basis during the summer.

The researchers analyzed this information and found that fruit and vegetable consumption appeared to provide protection from heart disease in women, particularly in those who ate the most salad vegetables year-round. In men, consistent consumption of fruits and vegetables in both winter and summer also offered the most benefit; men who ate salad vegetables year-round were less likely than other men to suffer from heart disease and cancer.

The findings of this study are consistent with many others: eating fruits and vegetables plays a significant role in disease risk reduction. And consistency appears to be the key, since people who make the effort to eat a produce-rich diet on a regular basis are healthier than people who wait for summer season fruits and vegetables to add variety to their diets.

The National Cancer Institute in the US encourages individuals to eat at least five servings of fruits and vegetables a day. Canned and frozen varieties are a good alternative when fresh produce is less available, but many fruits and vegetables are available year-round. If tomatoes in January don't sound appealing, choose seasonal produce: squash in winter, asparagus in spring, nectarines in summer, and apples in fall.