How to Develop a Habit of Eating More Fruits And Vegetables
Fruits and Vegetables; Our Natural Food
We all know by now that most fruits and vegetables are packed full of nutrients like vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and water but very few people seem to consume them regularly. It is a fact that while meat, dairy and poultry food items consumption is increasing around the world fruits and vegetables seem to have taken a backseat, especially in the younger generation.
We can opt for buying only organically grown fruits and vegetables. Although they are relatively expensive, they are also far more tasty and free from chemical fertilizer, insecticides and pesticides which poison our food regularly. Also naturally occurring plant seeds produce far more nutrient rich fruits and vegetables in comparison to their hybrid counterparts. Hybrid varieties are more disease resistant and grow more quickly. This is one of the reasons the farmers prefer them over natural varieties of the same plant. They get paid by the number of bushels per acre not by the quality of their produce. Also, almost nothing is done to enrich the quality of the soil upon which farming is done, it is further deteriorated by the excessive use of artificial chemicals.
Coming back to the main issue, we can actually develop a habit for eating more fruits and veggies and teach the same to our children, who are addicted to fast food. We can try to restrict the quantity of meat and eggs in our daily or weekly shopping and replace them with fruits and vegetables. We can keep the fruits and veggies before our eyes and within our reach always. This trick is so simple but it works wonders. There is an old saying ‘out of sight out of mind’. If something food item is always within our rich then our mind tends to gravitate towards it. Whenever possible we can prepare tasty salads and have them along with our whole family. Recipe books are freely available online, we just have to reach out for them. Make it a habit to eat your favorite fruit or fruit juice as dessert after your dinner. If you feel the urge for night time snacks then always opt for fruit juice along with protein powder of some reputed brand. Overweight, diabetic and school children can consume a fruit during breakfast everyday along with germinated seeds, defatted milk.
Fruits and vegetables are full of fiber content so they fill our appetite very quickly. Some people complain that they just don’t like the taste of bland fruits and vegetables. They also should be introduced to organic varieties of the same and they can start with fruit and vegetable juices if they don’t like to have a whole fruit. If this technique still does not work for someone then one can undergo a detoxification diet and cleansing program. Our body has a natural tendency to detoxify itself and once over we tend to lose excess weight and feel a lot better. Afterwards industrially produced meat, dairy and poultry products will not taste so well in our taste buds and instead most people opt for fruits, nuts, seeds, legumes and vegetables in their diet.
It is no coincidence, but a scientifically proven fact that those populations who showed the least consumption of fruits and vegetables actually had the highest risk and incidence of cancer. The reverse is also true, those populations with the highest consumption of fruits, vegetables and other naturally occurring food showed the least incidence and risk of cancer. This is not only true of cancer but also many other chronic degenerative diseases and our immune system needs plenty of antioxidants and vitamins to fight against them.
