Eating +8 Vegetables & Fruit a Day

If you do not normally eat this many vegetables, then you will need to increase the quantity slowly or you may upset your bowel. Most of us eat way too little fibre and our bowels have become used to it.

Eat fruit or vegetables at EVERY meal (dried fruit in small amounts is included)

Eat 1-3 portions of fruit and 5-7 portions of vegetables each day. Do NOT include fruit or vegetable juice (even home made) in this count.

Eat a large portion of green leafy vegetables (cabbage, spinach, kale, broccoli, cauliflower, silverbeet, sprouts, Chinese greens etc) most days of the week.

Green leafy vegetables contain most of the nutrients we need for life. Ask yourself why they can’t be added to each meal before leaving them out!

Iceberg lettuce does NOT count as a leafy green vegetable (too much water, and not enough nutrients). Other salad vegetables may also be low in nutrients because you don’t eat enough. A portion of lightly cooked silverbeet is far more nutritious than a portion of lettuce because you get so much more volume of vegetable. You can eat salad vegetables, but do not rely on them as a daily staple and add vegetable protein as well.

Fresh herbs such as coriander and sprouts such as alfalfa do count, but most of us do not eat a large enough quantity to count as a ‘portion’. However, they are very nutritious, so do add fresh herbs to your cooking.

Eat as much of the fruit or vegetable’s fibre as possible eg do not peel potatoes/beetroot etc, just scrub, eat the pith around oranges/mandarins, eat the peel on apples/pears etc.

Eat a variety of different fruit and vegetables. Try new vegetables. Find recipes on the internet.

Check your dried fruit for added sugar. No added sugar fruit is usually only: sultanas, raisins, prunes, figs, dates, apple rings and apricots.

Tinned, frozen and dried vegetables are fine as long as they have no added sugar.

Frozen fruit is good. Tinned fruit is NOT – because of added sugar or juice.

Add herbs and spices to every meal (cinnamon and ginger are good with breakfast!) as they contain a lot of micronutrients.


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