Resolve to Eat More Fruit and Veg...

We're a week into the new year and no doubt people up and down the country will have made resolutions to make changes to their lifestyle. Whether it's to lose weight, eat more healthily or to improve your fitness, including more fruit and veg in your diet can help contribute to your success.

One of the main ways that people reduce their calorie intake to aid weight loss is by reducing portion sizes. However, this can leave them hungry and susceptible to snacking. Adding extra fruit and veg to your diet can help to counteract this problem, as their fibre content makes them a filling option, whilst being low in calories. As a general rule if you are trying to lose weight, half your plate should be filled with veg or salad to help control your portions of carbohydrate and protein.

Fruit obviously makes a healthy option for a dessert or snack if you are trying to reduce your intake of foods with added sugars, but make these interesting by varying how you serve them; set berries or tinned fruit in a sugar free jelly, cut an apple or pear into slices and dip into blended fruits of the forest dip or a small pot of fat free yoghurt. Swap a small handful of sweets for dried fruit; while the sugar content will be similar, you will receive a good helping of fibre, antioxidants and small, but useful amounts of calcium and iron. Don't forget veg sticks can also make a good snack; serve them with salsa, low fat cottage cheese or reduced fat hummus, though the latter is still relatively high in fat, so not such a good option if you are watching your waistline.

Meanwhile if you want to reduce the fat content of your diet, consider replacing half the meat in a stew, curry or pasta dish with peas, bean or lentils, which are very low in fat. The fibre in pulses is similar to that in oats, which helps to lower your cholesterol levels. Additionally they have a low GI, so raise blood sugar levels slowly; ideal for anyone with diabetes, aiming to lose weight or to keep your energy levels up throughout the day.

For anyone motivated to make lifestyle changes to reduce their risk of heart disease, fruit and vegetables provide additional benefits in relation to this beyond their antioxidant and soluble fibre content. They are rich in potassium, which can help to lower blood pressure. Green vegetables, berries and citrus fruits are also rich in folate, which reduces levels of a substance called homocysteine, an independent risk factor for heart disease.

A diagnosis or a strong family history of a disease is often enough to motivate people to make changes to what they eat if there is a lifestyle component. Whether that's diabetes, osteoporosis, Alzheimer's disease or another, including more fruit and veg will more than likely be beneficial thanks to the wide range of nutrients they contain.


Image by Yosarian via Wikimedia Commons