Summer Eating: Fruits & Veggies Time to Shine

It seems as though people are always looking for the quick fix, we want “it” yesterday! When if comes to health and weight, the quick fix leads to the quick break. Lose weight quick, gain it back quicker. Drop blood sugar quick, spike it even faster.  However, the solution is quite simple, yet not necessarily quick. The challenge is for the past 15 - 20 years the pseudo experts have advised Americans to avoid many fruits and some vegetables and we’ve become a larger and more diabetic society. Interestingly, people avoid the “evil” fruit, but rationalize cake and ice cream and chips and high calorie/high sugar smoothies. The real science brings us back to basics- eat your veggies and your fruits! We’ve heard this advice all of our lives, yet most Americans do not eat near the minimal recommendations of fruits and vegetables. Fewer actually meet the recommended servings to impact health and weight. These are sweet and savory foods that are also packed with health benefits, the kind of benefits you absolutely can not find in a pill. What if you take a different approach? What would happen to your cravings if you ate the fruits and veggies that you “should” before you ate the “bad” foods? Take this approach and you just might be amazed!

Summer is the perfect time to focus on eating more produce. The variety is endless! Fruits and vegetables are essentially fat free, low calorie, high fiber foods packed with vitamins, minerals, anti- oxidants, and the nutrition to strongly aid in preventing and treatment of obesity, heart disease, diabetes, cancers, and a host of other ailments. Fruits and vegetables are sweet or savory, crunchy or smooth and creamy, and consuming more servings actually decreases cravings for sweets and a snack foods! The following tips will help you add more color, flavor, excitement, and satisfaction into your meals: 

•  Check out the local farmers markets for the seasons freshest choices in fruits and vegetables.
• Visit a farm where you can pick your own fruits and/or vegetables. You not only get the benefit of the “harvest”, but you will get exercise and a ½ days worth of fun! 
• Pack a piece of fruit in your briefcase, tote, or lunch bag.  Try bananas, apples, plums, peaches, nectarines, oranges, fruit cups …
• Make a low fat, low calorie smoothie with frozen berries, a small amount of chilled 100% fruit juice, spinach or kale, banana, and ice.  Blend until smooth and enjoy! (You can also use low fat yogurt for a creamy smoothie.) What’s your favorite recipe?
• Substitute carrots, cucumbers, spinach, kale, and other refreshing veggies for an exhilarating drink with even less calories and still packed with nutrients.
• Add fresh berries, sliced peaches or bananas to your cereal or yogurt at breakfast.  Top whole grain, nutty waffles, pancakes, and French toast with sliced seasonal fruit for a sweet alternative to syrup.
• If you bake, replace 1/2 of the fat with an equal amount of applesauce or dried plum (prune) puree for a moist and more nutritious baked good. (Mind you, still a desert and not the healthiest choice.)
• Grate carrots, squash, or other vegetables and add to casseroles. No one has to know!
• Add no sugar added dried cranberries, raisins, peaches, apples, pears, ... to salads for an added zing!
• Purchase salads in a bag for easy preparation. Pack with lunch and/or enjoy at dinner.
• Use fresh tomatoes, green or red peppers, and extra onions and mushrooms when making your marinara sauce to spread over whole wheat pasta or whole grain bread. 
• Plan an afternoon energizing snack of low fat yogurt, fresh fruit and top with high fiber, crunchy cereal. Sprinkle with cinnamon and you’ve got a powerhouse snack!
• Plan at least one serving of fruit and or vegetable at each meal and one snack.  The additional servings will easily follow!
• Purchase frozen vegetables in a bag. Cook them in the microwave for a quick and easy addition to any meal.  
• Add a low sodium vegetable juice in between meals as a snack.