By: Suzanne Doerries RD, LD
Vegetables contain lots of nutrients that are extremely important to our health. They have lots of vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients. They help you to grow, develop, stay healthy, and may even help to prevent some diseases. If you are eating a variety of colors of veggies, you can be sure you are getting a variety of nutrients. In addition to vitamins and minerals, vegetables have lots of fiber! This will help you to stay regular and lower cholesterol!
Despite all the benefits of vegetable, Americans are still not consuming enough. The 2013 CDC State Indicator Report on Fruits & Vegetables stated that 22.5% of adult and 37.7% of adolescent Americans reported eating vegetables less than 1 time per day.
Here are some things you can do to help increase your intake:
- Add them to your eggs. Omelets are an easy option for adding veggies. Check out the recipes below that are a little more unique. Breakfast Stuffed Peppers Eggs and Peppers
- Pack them as a side. Celery, peppers, carrots, broccoli, and cauliflower all travel fairly well and are good raw. If you are not a fan of that, you can always add a salad to accompany your main dish.
- Pair them with nut butters or hummus. This is a tasty snack and is much healthier than getting Cheetos or pretzels from the vending machine.
- Try a new vegetable (or new vegetable recipe) each week. Even if you didn’t like it as a kid, our tastes change. I hated brussels sprouts and asparagus when I was a kid, but now I loved them! Easy Balsamic Roasted Brussels Sprouts
- Use lettuce as the bread/tortilla when making a sandwich or wrap. Also, add veggies to your sandwich and wraps. Lettuce Wrap Ideas
What’s the first thing you are going to do to eat more veggies?