With the New Year here many of us want to improve our diets and eat more fruits and vegetables. We know it’s healthy, but why?
- Fruits and Vegetables are powerful antioxidants that fight oxidation in the body.
- Research has shown that that diets containing a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables can decrease the risk of diseases such as cancer, hypertension, stroke and cardiovascular disease, diabetes, heart disease, arthritis and obesity to name a few.
- Fruits and Vegetables help protect our DNA and enhance our immune function.
- They can also lower our homcysteine levels (a precursor to disease that is measured in the blood).
Unfortunately, very few of us are able to eat the recommended 9-13 servings of fruits and vegetables each day. Here are eight great ways to increase your fruits and vegetables in your diet everyday!
2. Pack an apple, orange, grapes for a mid-morning snack.
3. When you are eating a sandwich, pile it up with veggies first. Start with organic lettuce, tomatoes, onions, pickles, avocado, and artichoke hearts. It fills you up and is a great way to add fresh fruits and veggies to your diet.
4. Snack on crunchy raw vegetables like carrot, celery and jicama sticks, green beans, broccoli and cauliflower florets. If you don’t like the taste spruce it up with some yummy low fat dips or things like peanut butter for your celery.
5. If you don’t like veggies add them to your fruit smoothies…things like carrots, beets, celery, wheat grass can make your smoothie nutritious & delicious!
6. Dehydrate your fruits and veggies to make yummy snack packs. Things like bananas, apples, peaches, sweet potatoes, green beans are good choices. Dehydrating takes some time but it’s worth it. If you buy fruits and veggies already dehydrated read your labels. A lot of them will contain extra sugar and additives.
7. Top pizzas with bell peppers, onions, mushrooms, artichoke hearts, spinach, basil and grated zucchini.
8. Supplement your Fruits and Veggies with whole food supplements like Juice Plus (http://www.nutritionwithjuiceplus/). Juice Plus contains 17 different raw fruits and vegetables in a capsule, chewable or gummie form. It's a great way to get whole food nutrition.
Start today adding more fruits and veggies to your diet and your body will thank you for years to come!!!
