We don’t eat enough vegetables

Research shows that very few people in Australia eat enough vegetables. Most adults should eat five serves a day, where one serve is half a cup of cooked vegetables or one cup of salad.

Why should you eat vegetables?

Put simply, they are good for you. Vegetables contain a huge array of nutrients (vitamins, minerals, anti-oxidants) and fibre that does so much good for your body. Populations that eat the most vegetables are not only healthier but they live longer.

How to eat more vegetables

• Swap out cereal and have avocado, or mushrooms and spinach, or tomato and onion on wholegrain toast (you can also add an egg or halloumi sometimes).
• Raw vegie sticks make a great snack either on their own or with a hummus or avocado dip.
• In hot weather, munch on frozen peas or corn.
• Add salad to a cheese or meat sandwich, or have a salad at lunch time.
• Have an extra serve of veg at dinner. If you get too full then cut back your meat portion.
• Chop or grate vegies into stews, pasta sauces and curries.
• Use dried or canned peas, beans and legumes instead of meat – these are classified as vegetables, even the humble baked bean.
• Use cauliflower to make cauliflower rice (remember this will decrease your carbohydrate intake so you might have to decrease your insulin dose). Make cauliflower rice by pulsing flowerets in a blender until it looks like rice then cook it briefly. Don’t have a blender? Use a grater instead.

Fruit

We do better at eating our fruit than veg – eating on average 1.4 serves per day. However, all adults and most children should be eating two serves of fruit every day. A serve is one whole medium apple/orange sized fruit, usually about two to three medium plums or one cup of fruit salad.

Give fruit juice a miss as you don’t get the lovely fibre and because it’s so easy to drink fast you can have too much.

Once again, the reason why we should eat fruit is for the fibre, vitamins and anti-oxidants. Just like vegetables, the recommended intake of fruit reduces your risk of chronic conditions, heart disease, and some cancers.

How to get your two fruit a day

• Chop up some fruit and add it to your cereal.
• Skip the cereal for breakfast and have fruit and plain yoghurt – add a sprinkle of muesli or chopped nuts for extra crunch. This makes a great snack or dessert, too.
• Squash some banana on a piece of grain bread for breakfast. Spread with peanut butter first for lunch.
• Chomp on a piece of fruit for a snack any time of day. Some fruit are easy to carry in your bag for that ‘just in case’ snack.
• Add chopped apple or banana to curries.
• Have fresh or stewed fruit for dessert. Add a dollop of plain yoghurt for a contrast.

By Dale Cooke, Accredited Practising Dietitian