Why You Should Eat Your Fruits and Vegetables

By Carla M. Haley

Texarkana Gazette

Diet tips such as eating fruits and vegetables are the best diet tips if you want to lose weight. The author Carla M. Haley tells you how helpful is to eat fruits and vegetables as diet tips and also promote good health.

You hear it all the time; you need to eat more fruits and vegetables everyday. But why? What benefits do you receive from eating fruits and vegetables, and how do you incorporate them into your daily diet?

More and more research is proving that fruits and vegetables are critical to promoting overall good health. In fact, research has shown that fruits and vegetables should be the foundation of a healthy diet. Unfortunately, most people do not consume enough fruits and vegetables and need to double the amount they eat every day.

One reason that fruits and vegetables are critical to promoting overall good health is that they fight to protect your health. Fruits and vegetables are packed with essential vitamins, minerals, fiber, and disease-fighting phytochemicals, (pronounced fight-o-chemicals). Because of this, eating plenty of fruits and vegetables everyday can help reduce your risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, and certain cancers.

It is the phytochemicals in fruits and vegetables that help “fight” to protect your health. Phytochemicals are usually related to the color of the fruits and vegetables. Fruits and vegetables of different colors-green, yellow-orange, red, blue-purple, and white-contain their own combination of phytochemicals and nutrients that work together to promote good health.

Each color offers something unique, like different vitamins, minerals, and disease-fighting phytochemicals, that work together to protect your health. Only fruits and vegetables, not pills or supplements, can give you these nutrients in the healthy combinations nature intended.

As an added benefit, fruits and vegetables can help you control your weight, because they’re low in calories and high in fiber. By eating more fruits and vegetables and fewer high-calorie foods, you’ll find it much easier to control your weight.

You are probably saying that all this sounds great, and that you want to include more fruits and vegetables in your daily diet but you lead a busy life. You need a food that’s nutritious, energizing, and easy to eat on-the-go. Your answer is fresh fruits and vegetables. Remember that fruits and vegetables are a natural source of energy and give the body many nutrients you need to keep going.

There are easy ways to incorporate more fruits and vegetables in your fast-paced day without a lot of time.

For example, for breakfast, add fresh or frozen vegetables to your eggs or omelet like bell peppers, broccoli, mushrooms or tomatoes. Or you might want to add brightly colored fruits to your frozen waffles, cereal, oatmeal or toast. For something even more simple, have a fruit at breakfast every day.

If you are looking for a new, healthy way to prepare sweet potatoes, dip slices in a mixture of egg substitute and nutmeg and bake on a lightly greased pan in a 425 degree oven for 20 minutes for tasty sweet potato fries.

Don’t forget that snack time is a great time for fruits and vegetables. Snack on raw veggies like baby carrots, pepper strips, broccoli and celery. You might also try baked tortilla chips with black bean and corn salsa, or drink a frozen smoothie made with whole fruit, ice cubes and skim milk.

Incorporating more fruits and vegetables into your diet is easy when you have them on hand at home or in the office. Be sure to purchase fruits and vegetables on your next shopping trip to the store.

If you need additional information on incorporating fruits and vegetables into your diet, contact the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service in Miller County at 400 Laurel, Suite 215, Suite 215, Texarkana, call 870-779-3609, or e-mail [email protected].

For a fast, easy way to incorporate more vegetables into your dinner, try Spaghetti Stir-Fry. It can be on the table in less than 30 minutes, is made from ingredients on hand and is low in calories, with only 255 per 2 cup serving.

Spaghetti Stir-Fry

8 ounces spaghetti

1 package (16 ounces) frozen stir-fry vegetables

Cooking spray

2 tablespoons light soy sauce

1/2 cup water

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/8 teaspoon ginger

Cook spaghetti according to directions on the package. Lightly spray wok or skillet with cooking spray. Sauté vegetables until cooked. In serving dish, combine pasta and vegetables. Combine water, soy sauce, garlic and ginger. Pour over pasta and vegetables. Mix thoroughly and serve. Yields approximately 4 2-cup servings.

Tried and True Tip:

Make it a habit to purchase and try one new fruit or vegetable a week.

Carla M. Haley is a county extension agent, family and consumer sciences, with the Miller County Extension Service.

In this way the author Carla M. Haley describes about how the fruits keep us healthy. He also mentions some diet tips, which are useful for you.

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