How, And Why, To Eat 5 Portions Of Vegetables A Day

In general (there are always exceptions), once clients are drinking 2 liters of water everyday, we get them focused on eating 5 portions of veggies a day.

This can be a little more challenging depending on their starting point, but it’s such an important aspect of your longterm health that it simply needs to be done.

Here are some big reasons we need to be getting those 5 portions of veggies into us every day:

Why?

• They can help to preserve bone mass and muscle tissue
• They are rich in antioxidants, vitamins, minerals and fiber- super important for brain health, gut health, fighting off diseases and much more
• They contain lots of water to help you stay hydrated
• A healthy gut relies on adequate amounts of fibre (found in veggies) for optimum health, which is massively lacking in convenience foods. Men should aim for 40-45g of finer per day. Women should aim for 30-35g fibre per day
• Vegetables have a high water and fiber content and they’re low in calories relative to their volume. This means you feel fuller without eating tons of calories
• A healthy consumption of low calorie, fibre rich foods (ie. vegetables) can help to control overall food intake and maintain a healthy bodyweight

A healthy amount of vegetable intake may be associated with a lower incidence of:

• Cardiovascular disease
• High blood cholesterol
• High blood pressure
• Type 2 diabetes
• Obesity
• Stroke
• Eye disease
• Asthma
• Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
• Several types of cancers

 

So, you have plenty of reasons to start eating your 5 portions of vegetables everyday, but how do you go about building this foundational habit into your daily life?

It’s actually a lot easier than your think.

Here are some of our favorite tips on how to do it, without it feeling like a big deal.

How?

• Eat your vegetables first at each meal so they are done and dusted. If you leave them to the end, you may skip them if you feel too full
• Fill half your plate with vegetables- eg. asparagus, broccoli, cucumber, spinach, mushrooms, peppers, carrots, etc.
• Mix a chopped pepper, onion, mushroom or spinach into your morning scrambled eggs or omelette- a super simple way to get 2-3 portions in before your day has even started
• Throw in a serving of greens into your fruit smoothie
• Focus on getting at least 1 serving of vegetables at every meal if you find having 2 or more is too challenging- this is very common, especially when first trying to develop this habit
• Try cooking and eating vegetables in different ways- raw, in smoothies, stir-frying, par boiling, roasting, etc. The main goal in the beginning is just to get them into you, so find a way that you can stick to
• Add different herbs and spices to your veggies to remove the boredom and add some delicious flavour to them- garlic, thyme, chilli, etc.
• Commit to eating a main or side salad at every lunch or dinner
• Learn a few vegetable-dense recipe such as ratatouille, veggie burgers, salads and stir fry’s and commit to having 1 or 2 every day

So if you currently don’t eat 5 portions of veggies day, it’s time to change that and get stuck into them ASAP!!

Like any other habit you’re trying to develop, start slowly and build up to 5 portions a day over the course of 1-2 weeks. It doesn’t all have to happen over night.

Give these tips a go and let us know how you get on. We guarantee you’ll be feeling energised, lighter, less bloated and 10 times healthier in no time at all.