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.