Have you ever been asked if a tomato is a fruit or a vegetable? Do you know how to tell the difference?
A fruit is the part of a plant that develops from the flower and contains the seeds. This means that avocado, beans, cucumbers, nuts, olives, peppers, pumpkin, squash, and tomatoes are all really fruits. If you want to get technical about it, that veggie lovers’ pizza slice you had the other night with tomatoes, bell peppers, mushrooms and olives had no vegetables on it! It’s pretty much a fruit pizza. (Mushrooms are even stranger: they are neither a fruit nor a vegetable; actually they aren’t even plants, they’re a fungus!)
A vegetable is defined as any other part of the plant- the roots, leaves, and stems. This includes foods such as spinach, broccoli and carrots.
From a culinary perspective, many fruits are called and treated like vegetables since they are more savory and tend to provide the flavors needed for main dishes. Most savory fruits, such as eggplant and tomato, are referred to as vegetables because of how they are used in recipes.
From a nutrition perspective, fruits and vegetables are very similar in that they are both high in fiber and provide a variety of vitamins and minerals. One serving (a half cup) of fruit tends to be a little higher in calories than vegetables, with the exception of the starchy vegetables like potatoes.
Regardless of the differences, there is a lot of value in getting a variety of colors and types of fruits and vegetables in your daily routine. Fruit or vegetable, be sure to include lots of them in your diet every day for good health!
