The recommended balance between 5 servings of vegetables and 2 servings of fruit is only one of different recommendations, for example, [Dietary Guidelines for Americans by U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and U.S. Department of Agriculture][1] recommend 2.5 cups of vegetables and 1 cup of fruits per day in a 2,000 Calorie diet. On that same page, you can see they've put tomatoes in the **vegetable** group.

From the *nutrition* viewpoint, the main difference between vegetables and fruits is in their sugar content. A medium [tomato][2] contains only ~3 g of sugars, while a small [apple][3] of about same weight] contains ~13 g of sugars. On the other hand, [beets][4] of about same weight contains ~9 g of sugars and is considered a [vegetable][5].

There is no [essential nutrient][6] that vegetables as a group would have and fruits wouldn't. A certain vegetable and a certain fruit can have much more similar vitamin C content than 2 fruits or 2 vegetables. All this suggests that one doesn't need to be too worried about what counts as a vegetable or a fruit.


  [1]: https://health.gov/dietaryguidelines/2015/guidelines/appendix-3/
  [2]: https://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/foods/show/11529?fgcd=&manu=&format=&count=&max=25&offset=&sort=default&order=asc&qlookup=tomato%20raw&ds=&qt=&qp=&qa=&qn=&q=&ing=
  [3]: https://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/foods/show/09501?fgcd=&manu=&format=&count=&max=25&offset=&sort=default&order=asc&qlookup=apple%20raw&ds=&qt=&qp=&qa=&qn=&q=&ing=
  [4]: https://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/foods/show/11080?fgcd=&manu=&format=&count=&max=25&offset=&sort=default&order=asc&qlookup=Beets%2C%20raw&ds=&qt=&qp=&qa=&qn=&q=&ing=
  [5]: https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/know-your-food-groups
  [6]: http://www.nutrientsreview.com/glossary/essential-nutrients