Why Eating More Fruits and Veggies Could Save Your Life
by Tom Corson-Knowles
(Kapaa, Hawaii, United States)
The news isn't that fruits and vegetables are good for you. It's that they are so good for you that they could save your life. ~ David Bjerklie
Back when I was growing up as a kid there were all these ads on TV sponsored by the USDA that said "Eat 5 fruits and veggies a day!"
Today, I don't see those ads on TV anymore. Well, to be honest with you, I don't even watch TV. But I know these ads aren't still running on TV! How do I know that?
Well, a few years ago the USDA along with public health organizations all over the world upped their recommendation of fruit and vegetable servings a day from five a day to 7 to 13 servings a day!
The problem though, then and now, is that the average American only eats 3 servings of fruits and vegetables a day (do french fries count?). So even though the USDA raised the recommendation of how many fruits and veggies we should be consuming every day, the average American hasn't changed their diet one bit.
Oh, and by the way, the 7 servings is for young children. Thirteen servings is for anyone with a family history of chronic disease, large adults and athletes.
This creates a big gap in the American diet - the gap between what we know we should be eating to be healthy and what we actually eat on a daily basis. So how can we help bridge that gap?
1. Eat a Big Delicious Salad
Salads are a great way to add more fruits and veggies to your diet every day. If you make one at home, they can be super inexpensive and delicious. You can even make your own salad dressing extra healthy with olive oil, garlic and balsamic vinegar and save a lot of money on dressings. You can easily get 5-6 servings of veggies in one big salad and make a meal of it.
2. Juicing
Juicing is a great way to get the nutrition from more fruits and veggies in your diet every day. You can easily get several servings of fruits and veggies from just 1 glass of fresh juice.
If you have a juicer then you're all set to make your own fresh juice at home! If you haven't used it in awhile then it's time to dust it off and put it back to work.
If you don't have a juicer, but you have a good strong blender (like a Vitamix) then you can make juice in your blender. All you'll need is a cheese cloth to strain the juice from the pulp after you blend all the produce.
Not sure what to juice? My favorite juicing recipe is just apples, carrots, beets, lemon and a small piece of ginger. It's delicious and so refreshing! If all you've got is apples and carrots, that makes a great clean tasting juice too.
3. Snacking
With just a little bit of effort, fruits and veggies can make exceptionally delicious and convenient snacks. Sure, you might have to cut up that celery and pack it with some peanut butter but it's a lot cheaper and healthier than a candy bar!
4. Fruit and Vegetable Juice Supplements
Today, there are actually concentrated fruit and vegetable juice powder supplements that you can eat as gummies or capsules. Basically, the manufacturer takes the fruits and veggies, juices them and dehydrates them and removes most of the sugar and puts the remaining micronutrients and antioxidant powders in a capsule or gummy form for easy consumption. For those of us who struggle to eat enough fruits and veggies every day, it can be a great option.
Bio: Tom Corson-Knowles is the founder of the Authentic Health Coaching show, the #1 Podcast show on Podomatic.
Tom is the co-author of the revolutionary book Dr. Corson's Top 5 Nutrition Tips.
Tom blogs regularly about nutrition, healthy recipes and growing your own food.
You can connect with Tom on Twitter and Facebook.
Read more about making vegetables and other healthy foods a part of your daily diet.
