How to Add more Veggies to Your Diet

Little did you realize that Mom knew what she was talking about when she harped on you to eat your veggies! Studies have linked diets that are higher in vegetables and fruits to lower risks of cancer, heart disease, and other major health problems. It is no wonder when you consider that vegetables are chock full of vitamins, minerals, fiber, and disease fighting phytonutrients and antioxidants. And with no saturated fat or cholesterol and very few calories they make nearly the perfect food! Adding more vegetables to your daily meal plan along with other healthy changes can help you to maintain a healthy weight, another enormous health benefit.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

1. Different vegetables contain varying amounts of nutrients. The more variety you consume the more nutrition you pack in. In addition, the deeper and darker the color of the vegetable the more superior it’s nutritional content. It may be easier than you think to consume the recommended three to five servings or more per day. Keep in mind that a serving of vegetables counts as ½ cup cooked, 1 cup raw, or ¾ cup vegetable juice.
2. Keep an air tight container of cleaned raw veggies in the refrigerator to make them easy and available for snacks and/or lunches. The more available they are the better the chance you will eat them.
3. Use extra veggies in your soups, stews, and casseroles. Grate zucchini, carrots, or spinach into your lasagna, meatloaf, mashed potatoes or pasta dishes for an extra punch! Just adding extra veggies to a can of soup can make a hearty meal and help you get your veggies in for the day.

Tips & Warnings

• Spice up your sandwich by piling on raw baby spinach, sliced onions, green peppers, sliced tomatoes, shredded carrots, cucumber slices or grilled veggies and go easy on the lunch meat. Use your imagination!
• Make extra vegetables for dinner so that you can use them for lunch the next day. That makes eating vegetables at lunch the next day seem less like a chore.
• Tuck a can of tomato juice into your lunch bag, desk, or briefcase for a healthy pick-me-up in the middle of the day.
• You don’t have to be a vegetarian to fix a vegetarian meal. Consider preparing one vegetarian meal a week such as vegetarian chili, vegetable lasagna, eggplant parmesan or other favorite dishes. Buy yourself a vegetarian cookbook and go to town!
• Add some pizzazz to your pizza by topping it with an array of colorful vegetables such as tomatoes, green peppers, mushrooms, zucchini, broccoli or any of your favorites.
• Be sure to also add lots of water to your diet when you increase your veggies. The more fiber you eat the more water your body needs.