Q: How many servings of fruits and vegetables are recommended each day?
A: Five to nine servings. A goal for children is five. For women and teens, five to seven servings are recommended. For men, it’s closer to nine.

Q: I just started the South Beach^TM diet. Are there any serious problems related to this diet?
A: Not really. It’s much more sound than the more restrictive low-carb regimens, and it does feature lots of wholesome foods.

Q: What type of diet is recommended?
A: Stick with the basics – eat plenty of produce, watch your portion sizes, and use lean meat and low-fat dairy products. Enjoy eating a variety of foods from the food groups.

Q: Which diet would you say is the most effective when trying to lose weight?
A: There are many sound diets. A lot depends on which one is suited to you and your lifestyle. Weight Watchers^® has been around a long time and is well respected. There are others, too. A lot of people also stick with the food pyramid: two lean meats, three nonfat dairy, five to nine fruits and vegetables, and six to 11 cereals or grains.Watch the portions, and go easy on added sugar and fat.

Q: What is a good rule-of-thumb for the amount of weight to lose in what time frame?
A: Weight lost too quickly can come back quickly. It’s also likely some muscle mass can be lost when losing weight too fast. Shoot for one to two pounds per week, but it’s crucial to exercise. If you haven’t been active, increasing physical activity will slow weight loss shown on the scale because muscle mass increases at the same time fat is lost.

Q: Someone said the Atkins diet could be bad for your heart long-term. Is that true?
A: That’s one of the hot questions.We know that the foods often eaten on the plan are very high in saturated fat and that saturated fat increases LDL cholesterol in many people.

Q: What are some of the daily habits that an individual can do to cut down on fat intake?
A: Start with real blockbusters, like not eating “supersized” burgers and fries. Use nonfat or low-fat products that you like. Grilling, baking or steaming is great, too. Read food labels and compare products.

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