This Sunday, May 28, is the National Nutrition Day, promoted for several years by the Spanish Federation of Societies of Nutrition, Food and Dietetics (FESNAD) with the goal of promote healthy habits among the population. This year the slogan, "We take you to the garden", wants to highlight the benefits of daily consumption of fresh fruits, vegetables and greens.

Indeed, plant foods are essential for a balanced per diem expenses because of their contribution of vegetable fiber, minerals and water-soluble vitamins, as well as other bioactive compounds -such as polyphenols, carotenoids or flavonoids-, which help to maintain our health and prevent disease. In addition, fruits, vegetables and greens are generally very low in calories. In other words, they are low-energy foods, which makes them essential allies for maintenance diets.

The consumption of fruit and vegetable products also plays a leading role in diets such as the Mediterranean diet and others such as per diem expenses DASH(Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension, created to help lower blood pressure, cholesterol and other fats in the blood) or per diem expenses RESMENA (Reduction of Metabolic Syndrome in Navarra, designed by researchers at research center in Nutrition at the University of Navarra). This relevant presence of vegetables and fruits is supported by the scientific evidence that these foods are useful to prevent and treat different diseases. Specifically, there are controlled nutritional interventions that confirm that they can prevent obesity, cardiovascular diseases and, to a certain extent, prevent diabetes.

In the case of diabetes, consumption - especially of fruit - should be monitored because of its content of simple carbohydrates and simple sugars (glucose and fructose). Carbohydrates are classified between those with a low glycemic index and those with a high glycemic index. The latter raise the blood glucose level very quickly. Fruits, vegetables and greens have variable glycemic indexes, low in some cases and high in others, which explains why their general consumption cannot be recommended for people with diabetes, and why it is necessary to study, in a personalized way, the subject of suitable fruits, vegetables and greens.

This concept of Nutrition adapted to the needs of each individual is known as Precision Nutrition. Its approach is based on the fact that each food has certain characteristics and each person has specific needs and tastes. Both realities must be taken into account for optimal personalized nutrition. If we are all genetically different, and to this we add our own life history - what infections we have had, what intolerances or allergies we have, our culinary tastes or preferences for cultural or religious reasons, if we suffer from any disease, if we exercise regularly or lead a sedentary life, etc. - a healthy diet requires knowing what subject of vegetables, in what quantity and of what nutritional quality each person needs.

On the other hand, this year's proposal on National Nutrition Day connects very opportunely with Navarra's own traditionalper diem expenses , in which vegetables play a leading role. Derived from that culture that promotes fruit and vegetable products, the 2016report of Food Consumption in Spain -which is prepared by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment- highlights that Navarre -together with Aragon and Catalonia-, is the community where more fresh vegetables (the average in Spain is 82.61 kg/person and year) and fresh fruit (the Spanish average is close to 100 kg/person and year) are consumed, along with Castilla León, Basque Country and Galicia. However, the statistics also show that most consumption is centered on a few fresh vegetables (potatoes accounted for 27.3% of the total), vegetables and fruits (bananas, apples and oranges account for 45% of the total fruit consumed in our country).

It should not be forgotten that per diem expenses must be satisfactory, varied, safe and balanced. In Spain, AECOSAN (linked to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment) and CIBERobn (belonging to the Ministry of Health, Social Services and Equality) are responsible for this task, with the goal to promote accurate food consumption, so as to prevent or treat disease, both from a community and personalized perspective.