We all know we should eat more vegetables. We’ve been told the same thing since we were small children! But why?
Let’s have a look what, why and how:
Vegetables are one of the main sources of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and fibre. They help regulate our bowels, support our immune and nervous system functions, as well as reducing our risk of coronary heart disease and stroke. Vegetables include the leaves, roots, flowers, shoots and seeds of plants. It also covers legumes, peas and beans that are dried (lentils, chickpeas etc). The beauty of them is the more different colours you include, the wider the variety of vitamins and minerals you will get! (think of eating a rainbow).
Adults need to aim for 5 serves of veg a day (or more!). An example of a serve is 1 cup salad veg (like lettuce etc) or ½ cup cooked veg (like carrots, peas, spinach).
Fitting them into meals can be hard, especially if you are used to eating on the go a lot. Some simple tips for managing more include:
1. Aim to increase the veg variety you eat by adding one different vegetable/week. For example you might try adding some spinach to your curries or pasta, or blending it into a smoothie. The second week it could be carrots and you could try grating them into muffins, cut up into sticks with dip, or juiced with apple and orange for a refreshing drink
2. Try out the Horticulture Program at Burnie (Panorama) to learn how to grow your own vegetables and try lots of new different flavours, straight out of the garden!
3. Blend vegetables into soups or pasta sauces, that way if you’re not a big fan of the taste, it can be easily masked by other flavours!
What is your favourite vegetable and how do you like to add it into meals? Let us know!