Are the amounts for starchy vegetables a minimum or a maximum limit?
Starchy vegetables include potatoes, corn and green peas. These vegetables have about three times the calories of most other vegetables. The amounts listed in the charts you mention are recommended maximum amounts, and they should help people control calorie consumption. Because these starchy vegetables are among the most-consumed vegetables, if people try to eat more vegetables relying mostly on them, they may increase their calorie intake. People would also miss out on the nutritional benefits of eating a wide variety of vegetables, if they focused mostly on these starchy ones. For the typical woman who is physically active less than an hour a day, the recommendations say you should eat a half-cup serving of a starchy vegetable no more than six times a week. Most adult men are allowed one cup of starchy vegetables six days a week. If these suggested amounts seem small, you could choose slightly larger portions of starchy vegetables and cut back on sweets and snack foods, or increase
