We all know the statistics suggesting that Americans don’t eat enough antioxidant rich fresh fruits and vegetables.This is unfortunate since a diet rich in fruits and vegetables has been shown to protect against a diverse array of diseases including several forms of cancer and heart disease. Fresh fruits and vegetables also play a role in slowing down the aging process.

If fresh fruits and vegetables so good for us, why aren’t we eating more of them? We’re living increasingly busy lives which leaves us little time to sit down and eat a healthy meal. Plus, many Americans admit to not enjoying the taste of vegetables. Remember President Bush and his strong aversion to broccoli?

Fortunately, there are ways to painlessly add more fresh fruits and vegetables to your diet:

1. When you grab a sandwich or burger on the run, tell them to add extra lettuce and tomato to your sandwich. Request a side salad in place of the high calorie french fries.

2. Cut up an array of fresh fruits and vegetables in the morning such as carrots, celery, and cucumber slices. Take them to work with you along with a container of low fat dip for a quick snack. Be sure to keep the dip refrigerated until you’re ready to use it.

3. If you don’t have time to eat your vegetables, drink a quick serving size can of vegetable juice everyday with your meal. Drink fresh fruit or vegetable juice as a fast and nutritious pick me up during break time Another option is to get a juicer and make your own fresh fruit and vegetable juices.

4. Add some fresh fruit to a small container of low fat yogurt for a healthy and nutritious snack.

5. Want a healthy dessert? Place seedless grapes in the freezer as a popsicle substitute. You can also buy popsicle molds and make your own popsicles out of fruits that have been pureed in the blender.

6. Add fresh fruit to your cereal or oatmeal in the morning. Blueberries, strawberries, and bananas all taste wonderful in breakfast cereal.

7. Instead of eating plain eggs in the morning, add spinach, tomatoes, and chopped vegetables to create a antioxidant rich omelet.

8. For a quick pick me up, blend fresh fruits with a little low fat milk in your blender to create a delicious smoothie.

9. When you go to a restaurant, substitute the vegetable of the day for the starch served with most entrees.

10. Substitute fruit juice in place of your daily soft drinks.

11. Instead of eating a calorie laden dessert, prepare a bowl of fresh berries and top it off with a dollop of fat free whipped topping.

12 Substitute a veggie burger for your usual hamburger. Be sure to add lots of lettuce, tomato, and sprouts.

Give some of these suggestions for adding more fresh fruits and vegetables to your diet a try. Including more fruits and vegetables to your meals will not only add a unique taste but will give you all of those wonderful health benefits. What could be better than that?

 

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 27th, 2007 at 12:04 pm and is filed under Cutting Calories, Disease Prevention, General Nutrition. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.