How to Integrate More Vegetables into Your Diet
How often do you hear the advice to “eat more vegetables”? Plant-based diets that contain more vegetables offer lots of benefits for your health. However, many people don’t eat enough — at least 2 to 3 cups of veggies a day. The easy tips below can help you get more vegetables into your meals and snacks each day.
- Make vegetables incognito. Dark leafy greens are so good for you, but eating a whole salad might not be what you crave each day. Try blending spinach, kale and other greens into your favorite smoothies or soups.
- Become a volume eater. Want to make your meals more voluminous without adding loads of fat and calories? Turn to veggies. Frozen cauliflower rice is a quick way to get an extra serving or two into a meal. Add to grains, soups or stews, or season with herbs and spices for a veggie side.
- Change their shape. If you don’t like the texture of certain vegetables, try them in different forms. Turn zucchini into noodles, broccoli stems into rice or carrots into shreds. The nutrition won’t change, but your enjoyment might!
- Take shortcuts. No time to prepare fresh veggies? Frozen vegetables are equally nutritious. Choose products that are only vegetables – no salt, butter or seasonings added, so you can control the nutrition.
- Eat more soup. Whether you eat a 100% vegetarian diet or eat meat, a soup loaded with vegetables is an easy way to make a lot of healthy food that delivers multiple servings of plants.
- Start at breakfast. Love starting your morning with scrambled eggs and toast? Load your eggs up with veggies. Spinach, peppers, onions, spinach, broccoli – there are so many options here. You can use leftovers from last night’s dinner or sauté a big batch every few days to add to breakfast.
- Sip on them. Blend spinach or other greens, riced cauliflower, beets or carrots into smoothies. You can also blend in cooked, cooled winter squash or sweet potato.
Certain enzymes can help you digest vegetables — hold the occasional gas and bloating.*
