8 smart ways to increase your vegetables and fruits intake

We're not telling you to just eat more salads or fill half of your plate with vegetables. Try these innovative tricks to have more fruits and vegetables in your daily diet.

Upneet Pansare | Updated: August 24, 2018 3:36 pm

Since childhood, we have been told to have more vegetables and fruits in our diet. After all, fruits and vegetables contain plenty of nutrients, dietary fibre, vitamins and minerals, phytochemicals, antioxidants, phytoestrogens, and anti-inflammatory agents. These help us protect ourselves against a number of diseases and conditions. But how many of us actually manage to eat the required portion of fruits and vegetables daily? Not many of us, certainly, if the rising number of cases of diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, hormonal issues, fertility problems and cancer is anything to go by. Here we give you simple ways in which you can add more vegetables and fruits to your daily diet. Try these.

1) Always keep your fridge stocked with seasonal fruits and vegetables. Schedule visits to your sabziwala or supermarket so you don’t miss buying fresh stock.

2) Have a fruit along with your breakfast. Make it a habit to eat at least one fruit – apple, banana, a bowl of papaya. Fruits in the morning will help ease digestion throughout the day. You could also add fruits to your bowl of cereal.

3) Sneak in vegetables whenever and wherever you can. Make it a point to include at least 3 vegetables in anything you prepare, including non-vegetarian dishes. You could also make pasta with vegetables like zucchini, flat noodles with vegetables like carrots and rice with vegetables like cauliflower (blended in a mixer).

4) Make sauces and dips with vegetables. Blend vegetables to make thick purees and add spices in them, just like we make guacamole with avocado.

5) You can easily make baked chips with vegetable and fruits like potato, sweet potato and carrots. Just spread them evenly on a baking tray, sprinkle some olive oil and season with salt and pepper. You could also make apple chips. Thinly slice apples and bake them till they are crispy. Sprinkle them with cinnamon powder.

6) You should replace bread slices with slices of vegetables like sweet potatoes or cucumber to make healthy, low-cal burgers or sandwiches.

7) Add fruits to desserts is a good idea. Cakes, ice creams, kheer, basundi – choose sweet fruits like bananas ad chikkus so you can cut down on sugar in the desserts.

8) Grow your own herbs and plants. Chillies, lemons, tomatoes, coriander, curry leaves – you can grow these in your window or garden. Eating something you’ve grown yourself gives a different joy! Besides, it’s also healthier.

Image source: Shutterstock

Published: August 24, 2018 3:14 pm | Updated:August 24, 2018 3:36 pm

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