It is a well-known fact that eating a
variety of fruit and vegetables is essential for everyone’s health and
wellbeing. Still, it remains unclear to many people as what counts as a
healthy vegetable or fruit and how much of it should we eat every day.
On top of that, sneaking fruit and vegetables into your diet may prove
to be a challenging task. We know that answering all of these questions
on your own may seem like a challenging task, so we tried to clear up
the confusion and provide some recommendations to increasing your daily
intake of fruit and vegetables right here, right now.
How many fruits and vegetables should we eat?
How many fruits and vegetables should we eat?
The World Health Organization, the U.S.
National Health Service (NHS), as well as other health organizations
worldwide recommend eating 400 g (14 oz) of fruit and vegetables a day,
which equals to 5 portions.
The health organizations assure that this
so called 5-a-day approach to nutrition can lower your risk of many
serious health issues, such as stroke, heart disease, and certain types
of cancer.
But this is only half of the story, as guideline was further questioned
by researchers at the Imperial College in London, who determined that we
should actually double that amount and eat up to 10 portions of fruit
and vegetables a day!
Their analysis suggests that eating so many plant-based foods reduced the risks for the following diseases:
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Their analysis suggests that eating so many plant-based foods reduced the risks for the following diseases:24% risk reduction of heart disease
33 % reduced risk of a stroke
33 % reduced risk of a stroke
28% reduced risk o cardiovascular diseases
13% reduced risk of cancer
31% reduced risk of premature death
And while these numbers look very
optimistic, meeting the daily requirement of 10 portions seems
impossible. Luckily, according to the 10-a-day philosophy, the fruit and
veg doesn’t have to be consumed raw and whole, which gives a little
more flexibility to those who want to enjoy the benefits of the diet
without turning it into a tiresome chore.
In the end, we want to enjoy our food,
don’t we? So here are some delicious and unexpected foods that can count
in your 10-a-day (or 5-a-day) diet and are really easy to sneak into
your daily meals.
1. Guacamole
1. Guacamole
Avocados are packed full of so many
essential nutrients, that it’s almost a sin (in a nutritionist’s eyes,
at least) not to eat them. No only do they contain healthy fats, but
they can also protect you from cardiovascular disease.
To incorporate avocados into your diet, you
can prepare guacamole and use it as a sauce to accompany your salads,
as a spread on sandwiches, tortillas and burritos, or a dip.
A small to medium avocado equals 1 serving of your daily norm of fruit and veggies.
2. Lentils 
One cannot go wrong with lentils either.
There are several kinds of them, but all are an amazing source of plant
protein and have so many health benefits, from anticancer properties to
weight loss.
The best thing is that only 3 tablespoons
of lentils make an entire portion, so you can easily sneak them into a
salad, a soup or simply serve it as a side dish.
3. Chickpeas
Chickpeas and lentils are from the same
family of plants, so, like lentils, chickpeas are an excellent source of
protein and fiber in your diet. Apart from that, they can be prepared
in a variety of ways.
The same as lentils, 3 tablespoons will count as one serving, but if you
eat more, it still counts as one portion, as it is quite high in
starches and so one shouldn’t eat too much.
The variety of foods that can be made with chickpeas is mind-boggling,
too: make hummus, falafel, or add chickpeas to any salad or soup of your
liking.
4. Olives
A great source of vitamin E, olives are an
essential in a healthy diet. Eating olives is associated with a healthy
heart and bones, too.
Unfortunately, you’ll need about 30 of them to count as 1 entire portion
of fruit and vegetable, but even half of that amount will let you enjoy
the health benefits of olives, so it’s essential to incorporate them in
your diet anyway.
5. Tomato puree
5. Tomato puree
Tomatoes are an excellent addition to your
diet in any shape or form, but if you’re short on your daily intake of
vegetables and fruit, only 1 tablespoon of tomato puree will do the
trick of adding an entire portion, fast and easy.
In fact, tomato puree contains all the goodness that tomatoes have: the
folic acid, iron and potassium.
6. Sweet potatoes
Although potatoes don’t count as a portion
of vegetables because it mainly contains starches, sweet potatoes do,
since they’re so rich in vitamin A. Also, sweet potatoes can aid
digestion and are known to have stress-reducing properties.
1 medium potato, be it mashed, baked or even fried, will count
as 1 daily portion of vegetables, but more will not count as another
portion, the same as the chickpeas.
7. Lemon juice
One of the easiest ways of adding a portion
of fruit to your daily meal plan is freshly squeezed lemon juice.
Combine the lemon juice in a glass or two of lemon water, about the
benefits of which we have written here, or that in your salad dressing,
and they will surely pile up to 4 tablespoons (¼ cup, or 60 ml),
equaling 1 daily portion of fruit.
8. Popsicles
We know that it may sound a little
surprising, but 1 popsicle can count as 1 portion of fruit, if it’s made
of 100% fruit juice, that is. The same goes for the juice, by the way: 1
cup of juice counts as one portion of fruit.
Both of these are so easy to add to your diet, just make sure to buy the
100% variety. Popsicles are so easy to make, too: just freeze some
juice in a special container, or a regular cup of juice, sticking an ice
cream stick into the cup halfway the process, and enjoy.
These were all the tips we had in store for you today, stay healthy and
try to add as much fruit and vegetables into your diet, as you can. We
hope this article was informative and useful to you.
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