How to Eat More Fruits and Vegetables

The National Cancer Institute and the Food Guide Pyramid recommend five to nine servings of fruits and vegetables per day to ward off cancer and other diseases. Unfortunately, only about a quarter of adults eat Five-A-Day, even though it is this easy:

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Paring Knives
• Broccoli
• Cabbages
• Artichokes
• Apples
• Cantaloupes
• Fruit And Vegetable Peelers
• Vegetable Steamers
• Bananas

1. Include a serving of fruit and/or vegetables at every meal or snack.

2. Slice bananas or peaches onto your morning cereal.

3. Pack an apple or orange for a mid-morning snack.

4. Ask for extra lettuce and tomato on your sandwich.

5. Snack on crunchy raw vegetables like carrot, celery and jicama sticks, green beans, broccoli and cauliflower florets.

6. Add fruit to your green salad for a delicious twist. Try orange sections, sliced strawberries, pomegranate seeds or sliced apples.

7. Top pizzas with bell peppers, onions, mushrooms, artichoke hearts, spinach, basil and grated zucchini.

Tips & Warnings

• Fruits and vegetables are great sources of vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals, water and fiber.
• Frozen fruits and vegetables are nearly as nutritious as fresh. Use frozen if it is more convenient.
• A serving of vegetables means 1/2 cup of cooked vegetables (like carrots or broccoli) or 1 cup of raw salad vegetables (like lettuce or spinach).
• A serving of fruit is one medium piece (like apple or orange), 6 ounces of juice or 1/2 cup of canned fruit.
• While fruit or vegetable juice can count towards your Five-A-Day, try to choose the whole fruit or vegetable instead. Most juices contain no fiber.

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[Haoie]

on 9/19/2008 Drink fruit juice too. Not the overly sugary kind.

[alexiapetrakos]

on 10/31/2007 One more thing: stay away from canned veggies. They're leeched of nutrition, saturated with salt, and just very unappetizing. Stick with fresh or frozen. Your body will thank you!

on 11/22/2005 The American Dietary Association has upgraded its food pyramid and recommends 10 a day, maybe even 12 fruits and vegetables a day for vegans and other vegetarians. If you look at the stress levels of this growing society of fast food eaters and working people, there is indication that more nutrients are needed to combat stress, and too many people still eat foods that are not organic, have been processed, and contain empty calories.

on 11/22/2005 For vegans and others with low potassium levels, eat 1 cup of dried lima beans (cooked, organic preferably). This contains about 7 times the potassium in 8 ounces of orange juice. Add dried seaweed to the beans while soaking and leave it in for cooking. It supplies micronutrients, natural sodium, adds flavor, and aids digestion of the beans without adding additional table salt (although most people will still add table salt despite the herbal seasonings that are salt-free). Fresh diced onions and garlic can be added to the beans as well. If salt is still needed, use Bragg's amino acids or Tamari for less salt. Add olive oil for fat and taste--no lard, no animal products. Serve the dish alone or over organic Basmati brown rice for a treat and more B vitamins, too.