Vegetables- How To Eat Enough Of Them

A question I get asked a lot in my nutrition work is ‘how can I eat all the vegetables I need in one day?’ and I have to admit that it isn’t a simple question to answer. I thought today I would provide some tips and tricks to getting all your serves of vegetables in (and enjoying them).

The Australian Guide to Health Eating outlines the number of serves of vegetables a day that is recommended

	19-50 years	51-70 years	70+ years
Men	6	5 ½	5
Women	5	5	5

 (source)

A serve of vegetables is different depending on the vegetable. A few examples include:

o   ½  a cup of cooked green or orange vegetables

o   1 cup green leafy or raw salad vegetables

o   ½ a medium potato

o   1 medium tomato

I'm sure this is obvious to everyone but the reason why it is important to eat such a large volume of vegetables daily is because they are packed full of nutrients and are really low in kilojoules (calories). 

Are you saying to yourself ‘This information is all well and good but how on earth can you eat all those serves of vegetables?’ here are some tips on how to get your 5-6 serves a day:

o   Try and include vegetables in all your meals and snacks.

o   Always bring fruit and vegetable snacks with you to work (then there is no need to search for the vending machine).

o   Be adventurous. Try new vegetables, recipes or cooking methods. This will stop you from getting bored

There are so many ways to incorporate vegetables into your meals. Below I have listed some of my favourite ideas as well as some links to delicious recipes.

-Tomato on toast wholegrain with salt and pepper

-spinach and poached eggs on whole grain toast

-zucchini slice

-Pizza’s stacked high with vegetables

-Vegetable sticks and dip

-pesto and chicken with zucchini noodles

-Salads (there are so many options! Have a look on Pinterest for inspiration)

-Add grated vegetables to your bolognese sauce (zucchini and carrot are good) 

-Frozen vegetables (obviously heat them up) with tinned tuna and sweet chilli sauce

-Add frozen vegetables to dinners and lunches

-Vegetable Lasagne

-Stir-fry vegetables with soy sauce and garlic

-Roasted vegetables

-Vegetable soup

-A simple salad sandwich
-Soba noodles with stirfried vegetables and honey soy dressing

At the end of the day all you can do is your best to get as many vegetables into your day as possible. I hope you try out some of the recipes linked.

Bridge xo