Super Simple Ways To Eat More Fruit And Vegetables In 2023
As it’s January, I want to give some information on ways to improve your health without resorting to dieting. My tip for the day is to eat more fruit and vegetables. I love vegetables, so this is really easy for me, but what if you’re like my husband, a confirmed vegetable sceptic? Simple, find ways to hide them! Here are some simple ways to eat more fruit and vegetables.
What Counts As 1 Of Your 5 A Day?
- 80g of Fresh, Frozen or Tinned Fruit or Vegetables
- 30g of Dried Fruit
- 150ml of fruit juice or smoothie
- 80g of beans or pulses
Fruits
It is my deeply held belief that you are either a fruit person or a vegetable person. That’s not to say if you’re a vegetable person, you don’t like fruit, just that you have a marked preference. My sister and I are veg people, and my husband Mike is a fruit person.
Of course, eating fruit is a good thing. They contain a huge array of vitamins and minerals and far less sugar than a large bar of chocolate, for example. However, they do still have a lot of sugar, and whether it’s fructose or sucrose, it’s something you should try to monitor. That’s why it’s great to have fruit to eat more fruit and vegetables, but you should aim for more vegetables than fruit.
Things That Don’t Count
Potatoes
Potatoes are vegetables, of course, but they’re full of starch, so they count as the carbohydrate part of your meal. Ditto, yams and plantains.
Coleslaw
You can make a case for homemade coleslaw using a lower-fat dressing such as Greek yoghurt. But store-bought and covered in mayonnaise will probably do your health more harm than good, especially if you plan to eat enough to have 80g of vegetables. I know it’s sad; I love coleslaw!
Yoghurts
You’re just not going to get enough fruit in a yoghurt for it to count. However, if you use plain yoghurt and top it with fruit, that counts. Tinned fruit counts, too, my personal favourite is tinned pears.
Things That Count But Only One A Day
Fruit Juice
Fruit juice is lovely, but it’s easy to lose track of how much you’re drinking, so it can be a sugar bomb. First, it can lead to a sugar high followed by an energy crash, leaving you sluggish and irritable. Secondly, you remove all the fibre by squeezing any fruit into juice. According to the NHS, “Eating plenty of fibre is associated with a lower risk of heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and bowel cancer.” It also makes going to the loo a more pleasant experience. Limit fruit juice to one per day.
Smoothies
Smoothies are more difficult as you can pack a load of vegetables into them as well as fruit. However, sugar is still a factor as most of us prefer a sweet smoothie, and you are still losing out on that all-important fibre. Again, one a day counts but no more.
Beans and Pulses
They provide a lot of fibre but not as many vitamins and minerals as fruit and vegetables do, so this only counts for 1 of your 5 a day no matter how much you eat.
Ways To Hide Vegetables
In A Smoothie
Yes, it’s only allowed to be one of your five a day, but it’s a great way to get the vitamins from vegetables if you don’t like to eat them. Add carrots to a mango or orange smoothie for a big hit of vitamins A and C. Add spinach to a kiwi and apple smoothie to get more vitamins A, C and K, as well as iron and potassium.
Chopped Fine In Pasta Sauce
A tomato-based pasta sauce is a great place to hide vegetables that have been very finely chopped in a food processor. It’s a great way to slip in vegetables that don’t have a strong flavour when cooked, such as carrots, mushrooms and celery. The vegetables will form a kind of mush that blends in with the tomatoes. Picky eaters will never know!
Soups
In my experience, most picky eaters have a few vegetables they will grudgingly eat. In my husband Mike’s case, these are onions, mushrooms, carrots and broccoli. If you’re making soup, chop these acceptable vegetables so they’re clearly visible. Then use the pasta sauce trick to add some finely chopped vegetables that will slip by as part of the soup.
Chopped Tomatoes
If you, or the picky eater, are happy eating chopped tomatoes, they’re a great way to get more veg. They’re also pretty cheap, making them an ideal part of your plan to eat more fruit and vegetables. Add a tin to soups, stews and even some curries to boost the vegetable content and get more vitamins A and C and phytonutrients beta-carotene and lycopene.
Mash Cauliflower Into Mashed Potato
This is a sneaky one, and you might need to experiment to get as much cauliflower as you can without the taste being noticeable.
Pureed Butternut Squash Into Mac And Cheese
Obviously, mac and cheese isn’t a super healthy meal, but if you’re having it anyway, then adding puréed butternut squash will go towards your target to eat more fruit and vegetables.
Courgette Pasta
I am not a fan of diet culture substitutions so if you want pasta, have pasta! I did try courgette pasta out of curiosity, though, and found that I liked it. I still eat regular pasta most of the time, but when I feel I’ve overdone it and my body craves something light, I have a light tomato and basil sauce with courgette pasta.
Takeaways
Rather than concentrating on the latest fad diet, if you want to do something great for your body, then your target should be to eat more fruit and vegetables. I hope you enjoyed my top tips , and feel free to add your own in the comments.
