6 Easy Ways to Eat More Vegetables and Fruit

The new Malaysian Dietary Guideline (2010) sends a clear message: eat plenty of fruits and vegetables everyday. Chances that you've heard it but you didn't follow it. Meeting the daily requirements is not hard as you think.

Here as 6 easy ways to eat more vegetables and fruit

Start early

To get in the recommended five servings of fruits and vegetables a day, start eating them early, with your morning meal. This could mean adding bananas to your cereal, berries to your yogurt or vegetables to your omelet.

Don't hide the fruit

Make fruits and vegetables visible to encourage everyone in your family, including yourself, to eat them, Set out a fruit bowl in the kitchen or have carrot sticks available for snacking. Take some time to prepare the fruits or vegetables, if needed, so they are ready to eat.

Frozen is good

Frozen vegetables, such as peas and carrots, are a great way to make sure you always have vegetables in the house. They are easy to prepare and keep for a long time. Recommended steaming them and adding them to casserole dishes. And frozen vegetables are usually just as nutritious as fresh ones , according to Keri Gans, who is a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association.

At mealtime, think of the veggies first, not the protein

The new guidelines recommend half of your plate be filled with fruits and vegetables. Try to approach your meals by basing them on what vegetables you'll have, and then think of the grains and protein to go with it. 

You can drink your fruits and veggies, to a point

Look for labels that say "100 percent" fruit or vegetable juice, because those can be a way to get a serving of fruit, according to the USDA. However, you have to be cautious about portion size and make sure you know how much a serving is. You don't want to  end up consuming extra daily calories from juice. In addition, whole fruit also provides fiber, which is part of a healthy diet.

Have fruit with your sweets

"Fruits are nature's natural candy," Recommended pureeing berries and adding them as a sauce to desserts such as ice cream. While the ice cream is not good for you, a fruit sauce without added sugar is better than something else you might add to your sundae, such as chocolate sauce. Portion control is key with desserts. Desserts are OK now and then if you're meeting your nutritional needs from other foods and exercising to make sure your calories in equal your calories out.

You can also use fruits to make a smoothie. it's recommended using yogurt and no added sugar. "We have this heightened sense of sweetness just from overdoing it on sugars,". We should try to get back to basics and let fruit be sweet enough for our taste buds.

Reference: http://www.myhealthnewsdaily.com