FULL-LIFE EATING GOAL: there to five servings a day
Have a piece of fruit with breakfast every day Toast and an apple. A roll and a banana. A bowl of cereal and berries. Yoghurt with cantaloupe melon. Fruit is the perfect breakfast food. Make it a mandatory part of your day's start.
Have citrus as your midmorning snack Most of us have a midmorning snack. Make your choice an orange. One serving a day of citrus cuts the risk of mouth cancer - the seventh most common cancer - by 67 percent, according to an Italian analysis of 16 studies. Like variety? Try a different citrus fruit every week, from blood oranges to sweet-tart Mineolas, juicy clementines to luscious navel oranges, tart yellow to sweet red grapefruit.
Eat fruit for dessert six nights a week When scientists measure antioxidants in fruit, the winning choices read like the perfect shopping list. For example, research in Hong Kong published in the British Journal of Nutrition ranked the 'top ten' fruits by antioxidant potential as: strawberries, lemons, plums, oranges, kiwi fruit, grapefruit, persimmon, apples (especially green), mandarians and mangoes. And according to scientist at the Scottish Crop Research Institute, the humble British blackcurrant - often overlooked in such studies - contains higher levels of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants than 20 other fruits tested. Lead researcher Dr Derek Stewart explains that, generally, the darker the fruit the higher the antioxidant content. Have a brimming fruit salad after dinner most nights of the week equals at least two fruit servings and a huge variety of good-for-you phytochemicals. Cut fruit will keep for six to nine days with minimal loss of vitamin C, carotenoids or other phytonutrients, sya researchers. Just store it in a covered container.
Always keep frozen fruit on hand Visit a farmer's market or pick-your-own fruit farm, get a large quantity of your favourite berries or tree grown fruit, take it home, clean it and pack it up for the freezer. Then you'll have year-round local produce, perfect for blender drinks, sauces, salads and dessert toppings. Don't want to do the work yourself? Most food shops sell frozen fruit.
Stock up on canned fruit, too It's nearly as nutritious as fresh, and you'll avoid overripe banana syndrome'. Canned foods can provide similar amounts of vitamins and minerals to fresh equivalents, and are often a good source of fibre, according to the British Nutrition Foundation. Most canned fruits are canned immediately or very soon after harvest, when nutrient concentrations and quality are at their highest - canned fruit may actually contain more vitamin C than fresh equivalents that have
been on the shelf for a while. So canned fruit and vegetables count towards your recommended 'five a day' portions. But choose fruit canned in natural juices, not sugar-laden syrups.
Shop Continental-style That is, stop at a fruit market every few days, but small amounts of what looks the very best, and eat it within a day or two. This is so much more pleasant than buying large bags of the same old stuff at the supermarket every two weeks. And even if the fruit costs more at the small market, you'll probably save money by eating everything you buy. Sadly, when you buy infrequently, you tend to throw out more than you realise due to spoilage.
Stock up on kitchen gadgets such as an apple slicer, a mango slicer and a sharp box grater With one push, an apple slicer divides your favourite Granny Smith or Golden Delicious into delectable slices and separates the core. It does double duty as a pear corer, too. Build on your repertoire with a mango slicer, to turn these fiddly fruits into sweet, ready-to-enjoy sections and a sharp box grater for grating apples to mix with oatmeal.
Freeze bananas Frozen bananas are a delicious, sweet snack, better than ice lolly. You don't need to peel them before freezing as long as they are slightly speckled/brown.
Savour a glass of real juice every day Many packaged fruit drinks are laden with sweeteners and flavoured artificially. But enjoying a glass of real orange juice (from a carton or from concentrate) or pure red grape juice every day is a healthy pleasure with a big payoff, experts say. One study found that people who enjoyed three glasses of fruit (or vegetable) juice a week had a 76 percent lower risk of Alzheimer's disease than those who had less than one glass a week. And researchers at Glasgow University say that grape, grapefruit, cloudy apple and cranberry juices contain the highest amounts of the beneficial chemicals thought to underlie this protection against Alzheimer's and other chronic diseases. Indeed, red grape juice contains as many polyphenolic antioxidants as red Beaujolais wine.
Smart ways
TO EAT MORE VEGETABLES
FULL-LIFE EATING GOAL: four to seven servings a day
Serve yourself a double portion - every time It's the simplest way to get more vegetables into your diet - and if you're trying to lose weight, doubling the greens and losing the potatoes will help. At first, it'll seem odd to have your plate so full of green, but in time it will be a welcome habit. Make sure you haven't 'de-healthed' your vegetables with excess butter, oil or fat or your calorie count will surge. Also, don't double up on high-starch vegetables such as sweetcorn, peas or beans since they're higher in calories - have one portion and one of green, leafy veg instead.
Flavour your vegetables the tasty, healthy way Don't smother your steamed or raw vegetables in butter or saute them with bacon to give them more flavour. There are many ways to make vegetables delicious without pushing up the calorie count.
Use veg in place of pasta Most sauces that work well on pasta work well on vegetables too. Serve spaghetti sauce over steamed green beans, for example. Make lasagne with strips of aubergine or use courgette in place of noodles. Make 'cauliflower and cheese' in place of 'macaroni and cheese'.
Get into a raw-vegetable habit Tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, celery, radishes, broccoli and peppers are just a few examples of vegetables that are outstanding to eat raw. Try to get in the habit of a daily raw-vegetable snack- if you eat them unadorned, you can eat as many as you wish. Also, put out a plate of raw vegetables at every dinner. You and your loved ones will naturally nibble them throughout the meal.
Start every dinner with a salad That's at least one serving - and if you fill your bowl with your favourite salad veg, you'll start the meal with a smile. Be choosy. If you dislike iceberg lettuce, try a beautiful green salad mix or baby spinach. Add juicy fresh produce such as tomatoes, sliced red peppers or even strawberries or raspberries. For more flavour, sprinkle chopped fresh herbs such as basil and coriander on top. Drizzle with a teaspoon each of olive oil and lemon juice.
Sip vegetables juice with your afternoon snack A glass of low-sodium, low-sugar vegetable juice counts as a full serving of vegetables.Tomato-based juices are high in the antioxidant lycopene.
Have a piece of fruit with breakfast every day Toast and an apple. A roll and a banana. A bowl of cereal and berries. Yoghurt with cantaloupe melon. Fruit is the perfect breakfast food. Make it a mandatory part of your day's start.
Have citrus as your midmorning snack Most of us have a midmorning snack. Make your choice an orange. One serving a day of citrus cuts the risk of mouth cancer - the seventh most common cancer - by 67 percent, according to an Italian analysis of 16 studies. Like variety? Try a different citrus fruit every week, from blood oranges to sweet-tart Mineolas, juicy clementines to luscious navel oranges, tart yellow to sweet red grapefruit.
Eat fruit for dessert six nights a week When scientists measure antioxidants in fruit, the winning choices read like the perfect shopping list. For example, research in Hong Kong published in the British Journal of Nutrition ranked the 'top ten' fruits by antioxidant potential as: strawberries, lemons, plums, oranges, kiwi fruit, grapefruit, persimmon, apples (especially green), mandarians and mangoes. And according to scientist at the Scottish Crop Research Institute, the humble British blackcurrant - often overlooked in such studies - contains higher levels of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants than 20 other fruits tested. Lead researcher Dr Derek Stewart explains that, generally, the darker the fruit the higher the antioxidant content. Have a brimming fruit salad after dinner most nights of the week equals at least two fruit servings and a huge variety of good-for-you phytochemicals. Cut fruit will keep for six to nine days with minimal loss of vitamin C, carotenoids or other phytonutrients, sya researchers. Just store it in a covered container.
Always keep frozen fruit on hand Visit a farmer's market or pick-your-own fruit farm, get a large quantity of your favourite berries or tree grown fruit, take it home, clean it and pack it up for the freezer. Then you'll have year-round local produce, perfect for blender drinks, sauces, salads and dessert toppings. Don't want to do the work yourself? Most food shops sell frozen fruit.
Stock up on canned fruit, too It's nearly as nutritious as fresh, and you'll avoid overripe banana syndrome'. Canned foods can provide similar amounts of vitamins and minerals to fresh equivalents, and are often a good source of fibre, according to the British Nutrition Foundation. Most canned fruits are canned immediately or very soon after harvest, when nutrient concentrations and quality are at their highest - canned fruit may actually contain more vitamin C than fresh equivalents that have
been on the shelf for a while. So canned fruit and vegetables count towards your recommended 'five a day' portions. But choose fruit canned in natural juices, not sugar-laden syrups.
Shop Continental-style That is, stop at a fruit market every few days, but small amounts of what looks the very best, and eat it within a day or two. This is so much more pleasant than buying large bags of the same old stuff at the supermarket every two weeks. And even if the fruit costs more at the small market, you'll probably save money by eating everything you buy. Sadly, when you buy infrequently, you tend to throw out more than you realise due to spoilage.
Stock up on kitchen gadgets such as an apple slicer, a mango slicer and a sharp box grater With one push, an apple slicer divides your favourite Granny Smith or Golden Delicious into delectable slices and separates the core. It does double duty as a pear corer, too. Build on your repertoire with a mango slicer, to turn these fiddly fruits into sweet, ready-to-enjoy sections and a sharp box grater for grating apples to mix with oatmeal.
Freeze bananas Frozen bananas are a delicious, sweet snack, better than ice lolly. You don't need to peel them before freezing as long as they are slightly speckled/brown.
Savour a glass of real juice every day Many packaged fruit drinks are laden with sweeteners and flavoured artificially. But enjoying a glass of real orange juice (from a carton or from concentrate) or pure red grape juice every day is a healthy pleasure with a big payoff, experts say. One study found that people who enjoyed three glasses of fruit (or vegetable) juice a week had a 76 percent lower risk of Alzheimer's disease than those who had less than one glass a week. And researchers at Glasgow University say that grape, grapefruit, cloudy apple and cranberry juices contain the highest amounts of the beneficial chemicals thought to underlie this protection against Alzheimer's and other chronic diseases. Indeed, red grape juice contains as many polyphenolic antioxidants as red Beaujolais wine.
Smart ways
TO EAT MORE VEGETABLES
FULL-LIFE EATING GOAL: four to seven servings a day
Serve yourself a double portion - every time It's the simplest way to get more vegetables into your diet - and if you're trying to lose weight, doubling the greens and losing the potatoes will help. At first, it'll seem odd to have your plate so full of green, but in time it will be a welcome habit. Make sure you haven't 'de-healthed' your vegetables with excess butter, oil or fat or your calorie count will surge. Also, don't double up on high-starch vegetables such as sweetcorn, peas or beans since they're higher in calories - have one portion and one of green, leafy veg instead.
Flavour your vegetables the tasty, healthy way Don't smother your steamed or raw vegetables in butter or saute them with bacon to give them more flavour. There are many ways to make vegetables delicious without pushing up the calorie count.
- Drizzle with a little honey.
- Grate on a light sprinkling of cheese.
- Toss with olive oil, lemon, salt and pepper.
- Mix with a small amount of soy sauce and sesame oil.
- Sprinkle with a vegetable-friendly herb such as coriader, rosemary or basil.
- Grill with just a light coating of olive oil, salt and pepper.
- Add a few drops of a favourite hot sauce.
- Stir-fry with a little oil and curry powder.
Use veg in place of pasta Most sauces that work well on pasta work well on vegetables too. Serve spaghetti sauce over steamed green beans, for example. Make lasagne with strips of aubergine or use courgette in place of noodles. Make 'cauliflower and cheese' in place of 'macaroni and cheese'.
Get into a raw-vegetable habit Tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, celery, radishes, broccoli and peppers are just a few examples of vegetables that are outstanding to eat raw. Try to get in the habit of a daily raw-vegetable snack- if you eat them unadorned, you can eat as many as you wish. Also, put out a plate of raw vegetables at every dinner. You and your loved ones will naturally nibble them throughout the meal.
Start every dinner with a salad That's at least one serving - and if you fill your bowl with your favourite salad veg, you'll start the meal with a smile. Be choosy. If you dislike iceberg lettuce, try a beautiful green salad mix or baby spinach. Add juicy fresh produce such as tomatoes, sliced red peppers or even strawberries or raspberries. For more flavour, sprinkle chopped fresh herbs such as basil and coriander on top. Drizzle with a teaspoon each of olive oil and lemon juice.
Sip vegetables juice with your afternoon snack A glass of low-sodium, low-sugar vegetable juice counts as a full serving of vegetables.Tomato-based juices are high in the antioxidant lycopene.
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