Healthy eating tip 4: Eat plenty of colorful fruits and vegetables
Fruits and vegetables are low in
calories and nutrient dense, which means they are packed with vitamins,
minerals, antioxidants, and fiber. Focus on eating the recommended daily minimum
of five servings of fruit and vegetables and it will naturally fill you up and
help you cut back on unhealthy foods. A serving is half a cup of raw fruit or
veg or a small apple or banana, for example. Most of us need to double the amount we currently eat.
Try to eat a rainbow of fruits and
vegetables every day as deeply colored fruits and vegetables contain higher
concentrations of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. Add berries to
breakfast cereals, eat fruit for dessert, and snack on vegetables such as
carrots, snow peas, or cherry tomatoes instead of processed snack foods.
- Greens. Branch
out beyond lettuce. Kale, mustard greens, broccoli, and Chinese cabbage
are all packed with calcium, magnesium, iron, potassium, zinc, and
vitamins A, C, E, and K.
- Sweet vegetables. Naturally
sweet vegetables—such as corn, carrots, beets, sweet potatoes, yams,
onions, and squash—add healthy sweetness to your meals and reduce your
cravings for added sugars.
- Fruit. Fruit
is a tasty, satisfying way to fill up on fiber, vitamins, and
antioxidants. Berries are cancer-fighting, apples provide fiber, oranges
and mangos offer vitamin C, and so on.
