Are you eating enough vegetables?
The results are in, but the barriers are real when it comes to eating more fruits and vegetables. Would you agree that they are more expensive, require more work to wash, peel and cut and are much less filling than junkier foods?
You are not alone.
According to reports, Americans are eating way below the recommended daily fruits and vegetable requirements. We should be eating one and a half to two cups of fruits every day and two to three cups of vegetables, but three-quarters of Americans do not manage to get that much fruit and 86 percent fail to eat enough vegetables.
Everyone would be healthier if we eat more vegetables. They are low in calories, reduce risk of disease and provide vitamins and minerals.
One study found that people who ate seven or more servings of fruits and vegetables were 42 percent less likely to die from any cause over the next eight years compared to those who ate less than one serving a day.
So what do we do?
- The best place to start is with kids, who are setting up their habits for a lifetime.
- Start eating fruits and vegetables with your morning meal – add bananas to your cereal, berries to your yogurt or vegetables to your omelet.
- Make fruits and vegetables visible so it encourages you to eat them.
- Take some time to prepare the fruits or vegetables so they are ready to eat.
- Consider supplements.
- Bell peppers, along with squash, cucumbers, and pumpkins are fruits.
- Bananas, grapes, kiwis are berries.
- Raw broccoli has cancer-fighting compounds.
- Avocados are fruits.
- Tomatoes are fruits.
- Blackberries, raspberries, and even strawberries aren’t berries at all.
- Kiwis beat oranges in vitamin C.
- Apples, pears, cherries, and plums come from the same family tree as the rose.
To eat is a necessity, but to eat intelligently is an art. – La Rochefoucauld
We can hold back neither the coming of the flowers nor the downward rush of the stream; sooner or later, everything comes to its fruition. – Loy Ching-Yuen
Every thought is a seed. If you plant Crab apples don’t count on harvesting Golden Delicious. -Unknown
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To Your Success,
Althea
Althea A. McLeish Wilson, RN, MSN
Educate . Empower . Encourage
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