What are some quick and easy ways for me to add more fruit and vegetables into my diet?
Now we understand the importance of consuming enough fruits and vegetables and their recommended portions. The next step is to put these recommendations into our daily practice. Here are some tips from our dietitians and see whether you can try at least a few of them:
When you snack...
- Fruit and vegetables are not only food choices for our main meals but they can also be healthy choices for snacks. For example:
- Replace chips with salad vegetables such as cucumbers, celeries, carrots and cherry tomatoes. They all give good and crunchy texture and can be dipped into a small amount of plain low-fat yogurt or low-fat salad dressing for a richer taste.
- Replace candies and chocolate with dried fruits that contains no added sugar, which are good alternatives of sweets without having as much sugar and energy. What's more important is the fact that they contain far more dietary fibre and vitamins than candies and chocolate do.
- Try to replace desserts by your favourite fresh fruit after meals.
When you eat out...
- Look through the menu carefully before you place an order for your favourite food or those typical dishes that you eat. You may realize there are more healthy choices with vegetables on the menu than you think.
- Try to include at least two kinds of vegetables as main dishes. Keep this in mind especially when eating out with friends since many people have a tendency to order too much meat.
- When you visit a buffet restaurant, start with the salad bar or other healthy choices with vegetables first.
- Instead of a full plate of fried rice with over-portioned meat, choose plain rice or whole grains, such as brown rice and red rice with more vegetables and less meat, which help reduce overall fat intake.
- If you like Western set menus:
- Choose vegetable soups instead of creamy soups.
- Pick the one which comes with fruit or vegetable salads.
- Sandwiches with vegetables as ingredients are better choices for breakfast than conventional sweetened buns or toast with butter and jam. You can try tomato sandwich with grilled chicken, tuna sandwich with lettuce or egg salad sandwich with sweet corn.
When you go to school or go to work...
- Try to bring your own lunch box instead of eating out. This would usually help increase your vegetables intake.
- When you pack your own lunch, make sure at least one-third of your lunch box is filled with vegetables. To achieve optimal nutrition, grains should contribute to half of the lunch box and the rest should be filled with protein foods such as meat, fish, egg and alternatives (such as dry beans and tofu).
- Bring along some fruit that require minimal effort to peel or eat, e.g. bananas, plums, grapes and pears, so that you can easily snack on fruit throughout the day.
- When choosing from the school lunch menus, pick the menu that is cooked with more vegetables.
When you prepare your food...
- Start with fruit and vegetables when you do your grocery shopping.
- Do a head count of the number of people you cook for. Buy at least 3 to 4 taels (1 tael is equivalent to about 40 grams) of vegetables for each person for lunch or dinner.
- Try to add vegetables to the majority of your dishes. For example, if you are going to prepare three dishes, cook at least two of them with vegetables.
- Use less meat and more dry beans when cooking soups. Dry beans are rich in dietary fibre, vitamins and minerals as well as protein.
- Be creative and try to vary the kinds of vegetables. Onions, green and red bell peppers, dried day lily buds and mushrooms are all great ingredients for soups or dishes.
- Tomato goes well with many dishes. Add it to your dishes such as pork chop, shredded beef, fried eggs or shrimps.
Other smart tips...
- Be sure to take a wide variety of fruit and vegetables with different types and colours since they offer different nutrients.
- Always keep a good stock of fresh fruit and vegetables in your refrigerator so that you are always prepared to eat healthily.
- Develop a habit of eating two servings of fruit daily.
- Do not overcook fruit or vegetables or the nutrients may be damaged or lost.
- Add fresh or dried fruits (without added sugar) to breakfast cereal, yogurt or salad.
- Not all the nutrients of vegetables or dry beans can be dissolved in water. Therefore, eat the vegetable or bean ingredients when drinking soups.