Eating More Fruits And Veggies
Category: Health, Beauty Tips, Beauty, Lifestyle
There is nothing more refreshing than fresh fruits and vegetables to satisfy your hunger. Actually, fruits and vegetables are also great sources of vitamins and essential nutrients, and most health specialists suggest that their consumption should be increased.
It is recommended to eat anywhere between 5 and 10 servings daily. This might seem like a lot, but once you learn what an actual serving is, you’ll find out that with a few minor adjustments to your current diet, your fruit and vegetable consumption will be right on target before you know it.
The trick is to be disciplined in your diet and make sure to buy plenty of fruits and vegetables on a weekly or bi-weekly basis.
Quick Tip
A quick little tip to facilitate your new challenge is to peel and prepare your fruits and vegetables every night before going to bed. That way you’ll have them ready to eat and you’ll have no excuse to reach out for the vending machine filled with unhealthy snacks.
What is an actual serving of fruit and vegetables? You probably learned what it was back in your early school years but with the wear and tear of an adult mind, you probably don’t remember anymore. Here is a practical guide to help determine what one serving equals.
1 Serving is?
1 medium sized fruit or vegetable is the simplest form of a serving. Perfect examples are a medium sized apple, banana or carrot. They are perfect for between meal snacks or tasty breakfasts.
A serving can also be 125 ml or ½ a cup of raw, cooked, frozen, or canned vegetables or fruit. Even if it isn’t always possible to have fresh fruits and vegetables because they rot fast and are expensive when not in season, it is suggested that you ingest fresh fruits and vegetables as much as possible because when they’re processed, they usually lose a lot of their nutritional benefits.
125 ml of fresh fruit or vegetable juice is an easy way to fill in a serving. A perfect example is a small glass of orange, carrot or tomato juice with your daily breakfast; it’s fast and effective. It is important not to fool yourself by thinking you are taking a serving of fruit when drinking juice made from concentrate.
Instead, buy real juice with pulp which includes all the essential nutrients. If drinking real juice in the morning isn’t already a routine, start it on a regular basis and soon you’ll be one step closer to realizing your 5 to 10 servings a day goal.
A small salad or vegetable filled soup is also considered as being one portion of fruits and vegetables. Therefore the next time you prepare a meal or order a meal in a restaurant, include a side order of salad or vegetable soup. The only thing you have to watch for is the fatty dressings and cheese that are usually included with salads.
Finally, another great benchmark to measure a portion of fruits and vegetables is 50 ml or ¼ cup of dried fruit. The most obvious example is small box of raisins. Basically every fruit can be dried up to make perfectly healthy snacks.
It is quite practical as you can buy special machines designed specifically to dry-up your favorite fruits or vegetables. Dried fruits and vegetables are also available in most supermarkets.
A little tip is to confirm that the fruits aren’t fried because that goes against the whole purpose of increasing your fruit consumption. If you want to know how to include fruits and veggies in your breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks.
Here are some great ideas to help increase your current fruit and vegetable consumption to a more healthy 5 to 10 servings per day.
Breakfast
Fruit or vegetable juices.
Grapefruit (complete or half).
Put strawberries, blueberries, raspberries or a chopped banana on your favorite cereals.
Fruit milkshake.
Slices of melon, mango or cantaloupe.
Lunch
Salads with various vegetables.
Soups rich in vegetables.
Various fruits (banana, apple, pear, orange, tangerine).
Sticks of vegetables.
Include various vegetables in your sandwich.
Dinner
Include a veggie platter as a side dish or appetizer.
Include vegetables in most of your stir-fry cooking.
Vegetarian style pizza.
Include fresh vegetables in your pasta.
Have fruit with your favorite desserts.
Snacks
Any sized fruit, sliced or whole.
Dried fruit.
Sugar-free canned fruit cups.
Increase consumption of fruit juices.
Sliced vegetables with hummus and dips.
The possibilities are endless and the benefits are tremendous, so increase your current number of fruit and vegetable intake to 5 and 10 for better health. Research has proven that fruits and vegetables are the most likely foods to reduce the risk of cancer, heart disease and stroke.
They provide protective substances such as vitamins, minerals and fibre as well as plant compounds called phytochemicals, also beneficial to your health.
So start the process of including more fruits and vegetables in your daily diet and within weeks you’ll see that it will become a habit and a normal part of your routine. Also remember what you learned last time, that the more fruit you eat, the less tempted you’ll be for unhealthy foods.
Stay healthy and eat more fruits and veggies!
Tags:Breakfast Diet vitamin
