Get more veg in, eat your greens, increase plant based foods — we hear these phrases all the time but getting enough fruit and veg in (8-10 portions per day) to support optimal health is not easy if you are not used to doing it.
In the UK it is recommended that to meet nutritional requirements all people consume 5 portions of fruit and vegetables per day. Currently only 31% of adults aged between 19 and 64 are consuming their five a day, just over a quarter of adults aged 65 and over are reaching that goal, while only eight per cent of 11 to 18-year-olds are doing the same. 8%! So, the majority of the country’s children are under nourished. And this is for the 5 per day target never mind the 10 per day target!
This concerns me. What will the health of these children be like if they are undernourished? What will our population look like when these children grow up to be adults that have been undernourished all of their lives? What will happen to the NHS?
I realise that, if the majority of the country is already struggling to get their 5 per day in, me trying to convince you that 8-10 portions is what we should all actually be reaching for is a lofty goal. My challenge to you is to try it. Try eating 8-10 portions of fruit and veg every day for the next two weeks and see how you feel. If you are not currently eating this amount and genuinely do eat 8-10 portions for two weeks even without changing anything else in your diet I believe you will feel the difference.
Are you interested? Slightly considering trying? Great! Following are 6 tips on how to easily increase your veg without drastically changing your diet and two days of sample menus that hopefully show that getting 10 portions per day is entirely possible. First, let’s talk about portions.
One portion of fruit or vegetables is 80g. Obviously 80g of raw spinach looks different to 80g of apple. So, without having to get out the scale every time you eat here are some examples of what one portion of different fruits and veg looks like:
Dried fruit counts but we are only supposed to have one portion per day and 30g is one portion of dried fruit. So stick to one heaped tablespoon of dried fruit per day if you are having it.
Beans and pulses can also count toward your 10 per day but no matter how much you eat you can only use one 80g portion toward your 10.
Same goes for smoothies and juices — they can only count as one portion per day and you need 150mL of the fruit and or veg juice or smoothie to make a portion.
Now that you know what a portion is here are six tips in how to add them into your diet:
1) Hidden veg counts
The blender or stick blender is your friend. Don’t have a blender? Use a grater. Point being, if you get the veg in small enough pieces those that are veg shy will not even know it is there. The easiest things to hide veg in are pasta sauces, soups, stews, smoothies, curries and casseroles.
Even if you have to use jarred tomato-based pasta sauce due to time restrictions, increase the veg by grating in celery, onion, carrot, courgette, mushroom and garlic. If you have a blender or food processor you can whizz up the veg beforehand into tiny bits before sautéing and adding your sauce or you can add them to the sauce a bit chunkier and then whip them with the stick blender before serving.
You can add a big handful of spinach to pesto sauce and blend it together without changing the flavour, texture or colour that much.
I add greens to smoothies to get some of my greens in at the start of the day — try adding a handful of frozen blueberries to turn the green smoothie to purple for those that are nervous of anything green.
2) Swap out your carbs
Try courgette or butternut squash noodles in with your pasta noodles or instead of your pasta noodles.
Make your mash potato with 1/2 white potato and 1/2 cauliflower. Or try mashed swede and or carrot.
Try a jacket sweet potato instead of white potato.
Try using romaine lettuce leaves in the place of taco shells.
Serve your poached eggs on sautéed spinach and garlic rather than toast.
Add courgette or banana to your muffin mix or add sweet potato to your brownies.
3) Eat fruit and veg for breakfast
Including veg with your breakfast every day starts you off on the right foot which may help to motivate you to continue throughout the day. Try a green smoothie for breakfast, serve sautéed greens with your eggs, make a veggie tofu scramble on the weekends. Frittatas are great with chard, onion and peppers cooked in. Avocado goes great with savoury and sweet breakfasts alike. Make up a bowl of fruit salad on the weekend and add a small bowl to your breakfast every day. Even serving baked beans with your breakfast counts as a portion of your 10 per day.
4) Fill half of your plate with veg
If getting all bogged down with the number of portions is too much for you just look at your plate. Are your lunch and dinner plate each half covered with vegetables? If not, try to get to that point. Serve your lunch and dinner with a side salad, stir a few handfuls of spinach through your curry 5 minutes before serving, make a vegetable stir fry, add veg to your rice, use 1/2 finely chopped cauliflower and half rice as a side dish.
5) Snack on fruit and veg
Raw vegetables with hummus, courgette in your muffins, plain yogurt with berries, apple or pear with a tablespoon of nut butter, avocado on rice cakes, leftover vegetable frittatas all make yummy, nutrient dense snacks that include veg.
6) Love your leftovers
All of this planning and cooking of veg can be hard work. Work once and reap the benefits twice I say! Roast up a tray of veg for your dinner and add it to a salad for lunch the next day, when making baked sweet potato for dinner throw a few extra in to add to sweet potato hummus or sweet potato brownies. Leftover rice and steamed veg can be warmed through in a pan with scrambled egg and spices to make fried rice for dinner the next night.
Hopefully, that gives you some ideas about how to add extra veg in. Here is what a couple of sample menus could look like with 10 portions of fruit and veg each day. I have included more than 10 portions in the menu so you can drop a snack or desert and still be hitting your target.
If you are interested in adding more veg in but are not sure where to start I am available for consultations and menu planning (with recipes) so do get in touch if you would like any advice or support.
To wellness,
April
