 According to a recent survey, the number of Americans who say they're eating pretty much whatever they want is at an all-time high, which unfortunately includes too few fruits and vegetables, as well as too little variety. Half of all fruit surveys are taken up by just six foods— OJ, bananas, apple juice, apples, grapes, and watermelons. And half of vegetables are made up of iceberg lettuce, frozen potatoes, fresh potatoes, potato chips, and canned tomatoes. Normally are we not eating enough period and missing out on the healthiest fruits, berries, and the healthiest vegetables, dark green leafies. The fruit and vegetable palate for our palate is, sadly, lacking. Why does dietary diversity matter? Because different foods may affect different problems. Cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, and Brussels sprouts are associated with lower risk of colon cancer in the middle and right side of our body, whereas risk of colon cancer further down on the left side of our body appears to be better lowered by carrots, pumpkins, and apples. So different fruits and vegetables may confer different risks for cancer of different parts of even the same organ. Variety is the spice of life and may prolong it. Independent of quantity, variety in fruit and vegetable consumption may decrease lung cancer risk, meaning of two people eating the same number of fruits and vegetables, but when eating a greater variety may be at lower risk. And it's not just cancer. In a study of thousands of men and women, a greater quantity of vegetables and a greater variety may independently be beneficial for reducing the risk of type 2 diabetes. Even after removing the effects of quantity, each different additional two items per week increase in variety of fruit and vegetable intake was associated with an 8% reduction in incidence of diabetes. Why? Well, it may be attributable to individual or combined effects of the many different bioactive compounds contained in fruits and vegetables, thus consuming a wide variety will increase the likelihood of consuming more of them. All the vegetables may offer protection against chronic diseases, but each vegetable group contains a unique combination of these phytonutrients, distinguishing them from other groups, because each vegetable contains a unique combination and a greater diversity of vegetables should be eaten to get all the health benefits. Does it matter, though, if we get alpha carotene or beta carotene? Isn't an antioxidant an antioxidant? No, it's been shown that phytochemicals bind to specific receptors and proteins in our bodies. For example, there appears to be a green tea receptor in our body, a receptor for EGCG, a key component of green tea. There are binding proteins for the phytonutrients in grapes, onions, and capers. I've talked about the broccoli receptor already. Recently, a cell surface receptor was identified for a nutrient concentrated in apple peels. And importantly, these target proteins are considered indispensable for these plant foods to do what they do, but they can only do it if we actually eat them. Just like it's better to eat a whole orange than just to take a vitamin C pill, because otherwise you'd miss out on all the other wonderful things in oranges that aren't in the pill. By also eating a different fruit like an apple, we won't miss out on all the wonderful things in apples that aren't in the orange. When it comes to the unique phytonutrient profile of each fruit and vegetable, it's like comparing apples to oranges.