Vegetables and Fruits Assist Your Body

Vegetables and fruits, which are loaded with fiber and vitamins and minerals, have been proven to be healthy for us and to prevent many types of diseases. Our parents always told us to eat our vegetables, and now we know they were right, but do we actually eat enough of these health-giving foods?

Not if you're like most of us, you didn't. Look around you. We're all sitting on vats of grease. We go out for lunch and we literally pour saturated fat down our throats in the form of burgers and fries. We polish that off and suck down a yummy chocolate milkshake. All this is accomplished from the driver's seat of our car as we guide the car with the only finger we haven't dipped into our french fry grease. Although, we may not be making that pit stop every day, we still make bad choices for convenience like grabbing a bag of chips instead of an apple or banana. The fruit is just as fast, but so much better for us.

Watermelon, cantaloupe, and grapes are very nutritious. These things just need to be rinsed and then they are ready for us to enjoy. In the mood for something less sweet? How about some succulent cucumbers? Cut-up carrots make a tasty treat. Dip some celery or cauliflower in Italian dressing, or slosh some Ranch dressing over broccoli and crunch away. Scientists are aware that we aren't getting enough into our diets. Therefore, to motivate us they are touting a five a day campaign engineered to increase our awareness of our eating habits and to incite us into eating five servings of fruits and vegetables per day.

In the beginning, five servings per day appears like a lot. But there are practical suggestions which may be implemented to help get to the five servings per day, such as by eating fruit for breakfast. Fruit on cereals, waffles, or pancakes is another idea. For a snack, a banana or an apple would be great.

Is it vegetables that you're having a hard time increasing? No problem. At lunch, eating a salad is an excellent thought. When you choose a sandwich for a meal, be sure to pile on the veggies. You can add cans of pureed vegetables to muffins or cakes, or combine them in sauces and soups.

Spread some peanut butter on pieces of celery for a simple snack - this is usually a favorite with the kids. A lot of kids like a food one day, only to turn their nose up at it the next day. That's all right. Just mix up the vegetables you offer them. The usual parental threat is, "No dessert if you don't eat your vegetables," but that just makes vegetables seem more odious. It would be interesting to see what would happen if we tried the opposite approach.

Maybe some nice broccoli only after you've finished your chocolate cake. You can also up the amount of fruits and vegetables you consume by adding some juice to your diet. The single problem with fruit juices is the lack of fiber in them. The kids have a tendency to fill up on juice, resulting in their not eating their food. But they have more calories, too.

The benefits to your health of fruits and vegetables are difficult to avoid. Increasing your fruit and vegetable intake can contribute to reducing your chances for contracting 14 types of adult onset cancer. But you have to get your five. Studies show that people getting their five have a better chance over those who are only consuming 2 servings a day. Blindness, stroke, and heart attack risk can also be reduced by consuming more fruits and veggies.

Even though this is common knowledge, we all have tons of excuses why we don't eat them. Either fresh produce is too expensive for us, or we don't have time to prepare it before work, or it always spoils before we have time to use it. Another justification that a number of people make is that the fruits or veggies they intended to eat are spoiled by the time they get around to it.

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