Wellness Wednesday: Surprising Sources of Veggies

Get all your vital nutrients, while keeping food delicious!

As you may know, incorporating fruits and veggies into our daily eating patterns is essential for a healthy diet. Both of these food categories are good sources of vitamins, minerals, fiber and plant proteins that can protect you from some diseases and chronic conditions. For the average adult, fruits and veggies should make up half of your plate for each meal. According to Harvard Health, aiming for five servings per day of various fruits and veggies is recommended as a great way to get your nutrients. But are you getting enough of these throughout your day?

Here are some ways you can incorporate fruits and veggies into your day.

1. Add them to your breakfast smoothies

You may already be adding fruits into your smoothies as this can be a natural way to sweeten your drink, but you can also add baby spinach. Spinach has a neutral flavor so you can easily blend it into your smoothies without altering the taste. It provides a great dose of vitamins A, C, and K, which help maintain healthy bones, boost your immunity system and help with blood clots.

2. Add cauliflower to your mashed potatoes.

Substituting some mashed potatoes with cauliflower increases the nutritional value. Cauliflower can help with lowering the risk of premature death from cardiovascular disease and cancer.

3. Upgrade your oatmeal

Add strawberries, bananas, blueberries, raspberries and different combinations of fruits into your oatmeal. Also consider adding shredded carrots as a hidden veggie. This can add some sweetness and also delivers high amounts of beta-carotene, which is linked to healthier brain aging.

4. Try some creative meat substitutions

Consider replacing some of the meat used for your burgers and meatloaf with mushrooms. Substituting 50% to 80% of the ground beef in your hamburger with mushrooms results in a meal with fewer calories, cholesterol, saturated fat and sodium, while also increasing your intake of vitamin D, potassium and B vitamins.

5. Baked goods, now with veggies!

Add fruits and veggies through baked goods. This is a great way to enhance flavor and natural sweetness while also adding tons of nutrients. Next time you are baking, you may consider adding zucchini, rosemary, carrots, sweet potatoes, cauliflower, beets and avocado. You can click here for some recipe ideas.

These are just a few of the ways you can meet your fruits and veggies requirements. When planning your next meal, think about how you can incorporate these foods and reap all the benefits they provide.