It’s National Nutrition Week, Nutrition Australia’s annual campaign that celebrates the important role vegetables play in health, wellbeing and disease risk reduction. This year’s theme is “get the most out of your veggies” which is very timely with recent price increases following floods and COVID lockdowns.
I’m going to share some practical tips to get your 5 serves of veg in each day while on a budget and with a busy schedule.
Already Eating your Veges?
For those who are already meeting these recommendations, Keep at it! In honour of this week, you might want to try changing it up a bit; instead of eating the SAME vegetables you eat all the time, try to include 2 new veggies that you don’t usually buy this week – it could even be a different variety of a vegetable you already eat, for example, if you usually buy green cabbage, try purple/red or perhaps try broccolini instead of broccoli. Believe it or not, even minor change can have an impact in terms of nutrient contents!
The Benefits of Vegetables
The importance and benefits of vegetables is often overlooked, we all know we’re meant to eat them, but let’s recap some of the reasons nutrition professionals encourage you to consume veggies.
- They offer LOTS of beautiful micronutrients, i.e. vitamins and minerals. However, they don’t offer too much in the way of excess energy. Hence, they keep you feeling full and well-nourished yet don’t add too much to overall energy intake. Getting plenty of vegetables in will, by default, help you displace some of the foods that may not provide as much nutrition or might be working against your health goals.
- Veggies contain health-boosting, naturally-occurring chemicals, or phytonutrients. These chemicals are the plants’ defence from pests; and bonus, they offer benefits to our health! Unlike vitamins & minerals, phytonutrients aren’t essential for keeping you alive, but, they can contribute to reduce disease risk.
Some benefits of phytonutrients include-
– Carotenoids, found in yellow, orange and red foods, act as antioxidants which can combat free radicals, that when built-up in a tired, stressed body can cause tissue damage and speed up ageing.
– Anthocyanins, found in blue and purple coloured foods – think blueberries and beetroot! Research tells us that anthocyanins are very powerful in terms of our health, and possess antidiabetic, anticancer, anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial effects as well as a strong role in prevention of cardiovascular diseases.
– Flavonoids, found in a wide variety of vegetables and plant foods, including tea. Flavonoids also act as antioxidants and play an inflammation-reduction role; they don’t work like an anti-inflammatory painkiller, but over time they can help your body produce its own anti-inflammatory chemical messengers. They are also linked to being protective against certain cancers and viruses. - They’re a WINNER for a healthy gut. The microbes in your gut love fruit and veg! I always say eat for the community in your microbiome, as we have a symbiotic relationship. Forget pre- and probiotic supplements; eating a range of plant foods provides prebiotic fibre (i.e. the food the gut bugs eat), resistant starch, as well as soluble and insoluble fibre. All of which play an important role in healthy bowel movements and gut-related symptoms such as bloating, constipation and diarrhoea. Bonus, fibre also keeps you feeling fuller for longer and is important in reducing risk of many chronic diseases.
Top 3 Practical tips for getting more Veg into your day-
- Go for convenience-
– Pre-cut salads and veggies from the supermarkets are an absolutely valid option for busy people, especially when it comes to lunches or cooking dinner once you get home from work and everyone is tired. Often the effort of peeling, prepping then cooking veg puts people off, so it may mean a little more packaging or slightly more costly, but if it means you actually eat the veggies in your fridge instead of letting them go to waste then it might be worth it.
– Try frozen veggies, they are just as nutritious as fresh, plus they’re less expensive and keep longer. The real convenience here is that you can also purchase them pre-portioned, which means even less work when it comes to making meals! Frozen veg are really useful in stir fry dishes, in combination dishes such as cottage pie or casserole, in soups, fried rice, curries and pasta dishes.
– Canned veg are harvested at their peak ripeness to maximise nutrient quality, with the bonus of an extended shelf life. It’s a good idea to be mindful of added sugar and sodium though – if possible, go for no added sugar and no added salt varieties. The veggies that tend to hold their nutrients and flavour when canned are beetroot, corn kernels, baby corn, legumes such as 4 bean mix or black beans and mixed veg. - Eat Seasonally-
– Eating veggies and fruit that are in-season means it is generally in high supply; so not only is it fresh and delicious, it’s cheaper. Look out for specials at your supermarket or local greengrocer, or check out local farmers’ markets and talk to the growers about what’s in season – there’s a great farmer’s market in Sandgate, or check out the Nundah Markets on Sundays. Or just search for a farmer’s market near your suburb – most have websites or Facebook pages, where they advertise specials as well.
– Download my Brisbane seasonal food guide here - Make them taste good!
– Many of my clients tell me that veggies are “boring”, I usually discover they are just having the same steamed veg all the time with no added flavour. My point is not that steamed veg are gross, but eating them all the time can lead to boredom. Keep it interesting; try stir-frying, roasting or air-frying your veg with a splash of good quality olive oil, it’s a game changer. Or now the weather is warming up, salads are coming back.
– Experiment with different herbs and spices.
The only limits are your imagination, and the stock on hand where you buy your groceries.
Chop mint and coriander and throw it into the pre-cut coleslaw you grab at Woolies.
Sprinkle rosemary & thyme over your roast veg before you cook them
Throw chilli or lemon into pretty much any dish.
One of my own family’s favourite veggie-full side dishes- Stir fry a heap of coloured veg (whatever’s in the fridge) in a wok or large pan with olive oil, a little garlic, pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice, then sprinkle with sunflower seeds & pepitas. It goes great with pretty much any meat or meat alternative and starchy energy food (rice, pasta, noodles), and you can change up the veggies each time – in line with the season!
Dietitian Services at Sandgate Physical Health Clinic
This article was written by our very own Dietitian Erin Brealey. Read more about our Dietitian Services.
For more information or to book, please call us on 3869 1099 or VISIT ERIN’S WEBSITE.
