Healthy Food Guide
2007-Jan-26
Take Action with the Healthy Food Guide
This guide is designed to make it easy to fit low-fat, high-fiber and lots of nutritious food into your busy schedule. Most people are very busy these days, so have less time than they used to for shopping and for planning what to eat.
Much research in the last few years has shown that the way people eat has a lot to do with how healthy they are and how healthy they stay. This research has also shown that eating a healthy diet, low in fat, high in fiber, with plenty of fruits and vegetables may help to lower cancer risk, heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes.
People have heard the message. They've begun to make changes in the foods they choose and the ways these foods are cooked and served. Still, most people are eating too much fat and not enough fiber, fruits and vegetables. People have questions about which choices to make.
Hopefully this guide will answer your question and make that choice a lot easier.
Action List for Fruit and Vegetables
Did you know there are at least four great reasons to eat more fruits and vegetables?
- It is easy to do.
- Almost all are low in calories and fat.
- They are a good source of vitamins and minerals and provide fiber.
- They may help reduce cancer risk, heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes.
Here are some actions steps to get you started. Pick one or two steps and then keep adding to them, they will soon become a new healthy habit for you.
-
Buy many kinds and lots of different colors of fruits and vegetables when you shop, so you have plenty of choices, and you don't run out. Buy frozen, dried, and canned as well as fresh fruits and vegetables.
-
First, use the fruits and vegetables that go bad easily (peaches, asparagus). Save hardier varieties (apples, acorn squash) or frozen and canned types for later in the week.
-
Use the salad bar to buy cut-up fruits/vegetables if you're in a hurry.
-
Keep a fruit bowl, small packs of applesauce, raisins or other dried fruit on the kitchen counter, table, or in the office. But be a little more careful with these as they are high in sugar.
-
Pack a piece of fruit or some cut-up vegetables in your briefcase or backpack, so when you need a snack you have your fruit or veggie with you, so no need for a chocolate bar. Carry moist wet wipes for easy cleanup.
-
Keep a bowl of cut-up vegetables on the top shelf of the refrigerator. This will help when you’re having a snack attack.
-
Add fruit to breakfast by drinking 6 oz of 100 percent fruit juice try and do half juice and half water, it may taste different at first but you will get use to it very quickly or by having fruit on cereal.
-
Add fruits and vegetables to lunch by having them in soup, salad, or cut-up raw.
-
Add fruits and vegetables to dinner by microwaving or steaming vegetables and having a special fruit desert. By steaming or microwaving you are keeping all there goodness, so make sure they are not too soft, the harder they are the better they are for you.
-
Increase portions when you serve vegetables and fruits. Season them the low-fat way with herbs, spices, and lemon juice. If sauce is used, choose a nonfat or low-fat sauce.
-
Choose fruit for dessert. For a special dessert, try a fruit parfait with low-fat yogurt or sherbet topped with berries. Put fruit in a jelly, kids love jelly and they are eating fruit to.
-
Add extra varieties of vegetables when you prepare soups, sauces, and casseroles (for example, grate carrot and zucchini into spaghetti sauce.
These ideas and tips should get you started with beans:
Once a week or more, try a low-fat meatless meal or main dish that features beans (tacos or burritos stuffed with pinto beans; chili with kidney beans; black beans over rice).
-
Try kidney beans or black-eyed peas. It's a fast and easy way to use beans and peas without cooking them from scratch.
-
Use beans as a dip for vegetables or filling for sandwiches.
-
Serve soup made from beans or peas - minestrone, split-pea, black bean, or lentil (once a week or more).
-
Try black-eyed peas or black beans as a vegetable side dish with meat or fish.
-
Add beans to salads. Many salad bars feature kidney beans, three-bean salad, or chick peas (garbanzo beans).
Posted at 7:15 PM on 2007-Jan-26
Post A Comment!
Post A Comment!
<- Last Page | Next Page ->
