A diet rich in fruits and vegetables can help protect against a wide range of chronic diseases, including coronary heart disease and various cancers. In 1992, the National Cancer Institute launched its 5 a Day program, a campaign designed to encourage Americans to eat at least five servings of some combination of fruits and vegetables every day.
Many nutrition experts believe we should consume more, at least 7 servings a day. Yet only 20% of Americans eat five or more daily servings of fruits and vegetables, and a mere 5% consume 7 servings. It might seem that asking a person to consume seven daily servings of produce -- more than twice what the average American now eats -- is an impractical demand. In fact, it can be surprisingly easy to accommodate seven or more daily servings of fruits or vegetables, especially if you regularly eat three meals a day. Here are some suggestions for adding produce to your life:
Breakfast: Get Off to a Good Start
1. Start with juice. Just 6 ounces of 100-percent juice (not fruit "drink") counts as a serving.
2. Add some sliced banana, berries, prunes, raisins, or other fruit to your cereal -- hot or cold. It takes only a quarter cup of dried fruit, a half cup of berries, or one medium piece of fruit like a banana to make a full serving.
3. Mix berries or sliced apples or bananas into pancake or waffle batter and then top with extra fruit.
4. Create a vegetable omelette -- perhaps a Spanish omelette with onions, peppers, and tomatoes, or any other combination that appeals to you. Half a cup of chopped vegetables like onions and peppers equals a serving.
5. If you breakfast on bread or toast, try an open-faced sandwich of low-fat cottage cheese and fresh fruit (banana, melon, blueberries, or strawberries) or vegetables (onion, summer squash, or green or red peppers).
Lunch: Build a Better Salad or Sandwich
6. Build a salad on chicory, romaine, or spinach. (Not on iceberg lettuce, one of the most popular and least nutritious of all vegetable greens.) One cup of raw leafy vegetable makes one serving.
7. That salad becomes two servings with the addition of just 1/2 cup of any combination of broccoli, carrots, celery, cucumber, mushrooms, peppers, or tomatoes.
8. Turn yogurt into a full serving of fruit by adding a half cup of berries or a chopped piece of fruit.
9. If you make your soup thick with vegetables, every cup of soup could easily hold a half-cup serving.
10. Use vegetables like broccoli, celery, or green and red peppers to add texture and color to pasta and rice salads.
11. Add tomatoes, shredded carrots, or bean sprouts to sandwiches.
Dinner: The Main Dish and Beyond
12. Complement poultry and pork with generous helpings of tart fruits such as cranberries, green apples, or raspberries.
13. A half-cup of tomato sauce counts as a serving of cooked vegetable.
14. Fortify stews, casseroles, and dishes like lasagna with extra vegetables.
15. Thicken soups or gravies with finely chopped or pureed carrots.
16. For some creative ways to cook up more fruits and vegetables, investigate alternative recipes.
Appetizers: Add a First Course
17. Have a slice of melon, a half grapefruit, or (if you have the preparation time) a half cup of fruit salad as a prelude to any meal.
18. Try a cold fruit soup.
19. Prepare special vegetable appetizers, such as fricasseed wild mushrooms or eggplant with herbed ricotta.
Dessert: Finish with Fruit
20. Prepare fruit desserts such as poached pears and baked apples.
21. If you treat yourself to ice cream or cake, top it with berries or sliced apples, bananas, peaches, or plums.
22. Skip the preparation altogether and just have a piece of fresh fruit!
Snacks: Satisfy the Urge to Munch
23. Snack on grapes, strawberries, melon balls, sliced kiwi, and other bite-sized pieces of fruit.
24. Don't stop at carrot and celery sticks. Raw broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, squash, and red and green peppers offer flavor and texture. You can use them to replace chips for dipping -- and use vegetable salsa for dip.
Eating on the Run
If you frequently skip meals or eat on the run, squeezing more servings of fruits and vegetables into your diet will require a little extra planning.
25. Stock up on dried fruits and frozen fruits and vegetables.
26. Keep a supply of carrot and celery sticks and other cut-up vegetables stored in water in the refrigerator.
27. If you brown-bag it to work, bring raw vegetables as a side dish.
28. Instead of coffee, tea, or soda on beverage breaks drink fruit or vegetable juices. Stock up on small boxes or cans that can travel easily.
29. Replace or at least supplement snacks with fruit. Apples and oranges travel well, as do boxes of raisins and bags of dried fruit.
30. If you have time only for a prepared microwave dinner, heat up some frozen vegetables along with it. You can add them to the dish if it's a pasta or stew, or eat them on the side.
31. When you don't have time to prepare a salad, assemble one at the supermarket salad bar.
From the April, 1993, issue of The Teddy Bear.
