20 ways to eat more fruits and vegetables
You have heard of "50 ways to leave your lover" by Paul Simon. The Well Fed Network gives us 20 ways to eat more fruits and vegetables.
Here is a nice rule of thumb I too often ignore:
When eating, fill 2/3 of your plate with plant-based food (fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and legumes) and 1/3 with lean protein such as fish and poultry.
Martha Stewart's Blueprint magazines tells readers how to build a better salad.
Labels: FDA
posted by Tom Karst @ 7:30 AM
4 Comments:
Where's the beef? Beef and lamb contain L-Carnitine. A triglyceride burning amino acid. True fish has omega 3-6 but neither has this essential amino acid that is heart healthy. Everything in moderation.
A New Slant on Getting Kids to Eat Fruits and Vegetables
By David Goldbeck
Co-author, The ABC’s of Fruits and Vegetables and Beyond: Delicious Alphabet Poems Plus Food, Facts, and Fun for Everyone
HealthyHighways.com
Everyone knows that if you want kids to learn things without resistance – languages for example - start them young. They same goes for eating habits. If parents want kids to have a positive attitude towards fruits and vegetables, it is time for a new approach. Certainly the “eat your vegetables, they’re good for you” scolding hasn’t worked. What will work is introducing these foods early in life and in new contexts in order to develop an easy-going relationship with them.
Several years ago, I decided to write such a book based on the alphabet. I resolved that if I could find something for the letter “X” the project would go forth. (You’ll have to read the book to see what I found.) The result is The ABC’s of Fruits and Vegetables and Beyond: Delicious Alphabet Poems Plus Food, Facts, and Fun for Everyone (Ceres Press, $16.95).
The book is unusual in many ways: First, I wanted an alphabet book so kids’ first words – their “ABCs” – would not be “B is for ball” and “T is for truck,” but for “banana” and “tomato.” Steve Charney filled the bill with clever and zany alphabet poems. A noted children's entertainer, author and literacy promoter, Charney brought the same genius to the poems as in the songs he wrote for “The Bear in the Big Blue House,” Jim Henson's Emmy-nominated show. I have to say, I fantasize about toddlers being fed while they (and their parents) recite: C is for the carrots/That rabbits like to munch. They eat them 'cause they love the taste – Me…I like the crunch
The second part, Beyond the ABC’s, which I was responsible for, takes kids to a delightful mixture of food lore, recipes, jokes, tongue twisters, unusual facts, shopping tips, recipes, and other fun- and thought-provoking activities. Children also discover where many fruits and vegetables come from, learn some Spanish words, and are directed to related books and websites. The goal is for them to translate their new knowledge into willful eating. After all who can resist Z is for zucchini/A word to flabbergast/Zucchini with linguini"-- try to say that ten times fast!
Children’s nutrition expert, Fern Gale Estrow, MS, RD, CDN summed up The ABC’s of Fruits and Vegetables and Beyond when she wrote:
Charney and Goldbeck’s wonderful book of poems and activities will appeal to children as they move through elementary school, exploring food and farming using the alphabet to establish their place in history, geography, art, literature, science, the kitchen, and let us not forget jokes and riddles! Even adults will laugh and learn at least a fact or two – and maybe each of us (young and old) will find an interest in trying something new!
David Goldbeck is coauthor with nutritionist Nikki Goldbeck of nine food books. These books include the bestsellers The Supermarket Handbook, American Wholefoods Cuisine and, most recently, Healthy Highways. David, trained as a lawyer, has worked as a waiter, produce man, and elementary school teacher.
To Order: The ABC’s is available in bookstores or from Ceres Press, PO Box 87, Woodstock NY 12498 for $16.95 plus $4.50 S/H. (845) 679-5573 For online discounts visit HealthyHighways.com
(c) Ceres Press
From the Los Angeles Times
WHAT WE EAT
How to get kids to eat more vegetables
To many children, broccoli, beans and their ilk are just nasty. But a few clever strategies can turn that 'yuck' into 'yes.'
Susan Bowerman
What We Eat
May 21, 2007
The picky eating habits of children can drive parents to distraction. Foods that smell funny, or are too hot, too cold, too crunchy or too mushy: all are candidates for rejection.
And when it comes to trying to get kids to eat their vegetables, the task often seems insurmountable.
Youngsters naturally prefer tasty foods that are high in calories — a nod to their biology, which is designed to ensure adequate intake while they're growing rapidly. But these days, with kids eating more of these plentiful, palatable foods and exercising less and less, the most obvious rapid growth is in the size of their waistlines.
Numerous agencies, including the American Heart Assn. and the American Dietetic Assn., are calling for changes to our children's diets. They want kids to eat fewer high-fat, high-sugar foods in favor of foods with more vitamins, minerals and fiber — ones, in other words, that supply the most nutritional bang for their calorie buck.
No one would argue that one way to reduce calorie intake is to eat more nutrient-dense fruits and vegetables. But many kids have a food "neophobia" — literally, fear of the new — that reaches a peak between the ages of 2 and 6. And this, again, can partly be blamed on biology.
Avoiding the unfamiliar may be an evolutionarily adaptive mechanism — one that serves to protect us from eating potentially poisonous substances that existed in abundance in the plant-rich environment of our ancestors.
Still, studies suggest that with repeated exposure, dislikes can be transformed into desire.
In a report published in the journal Appetite in 2003, for example, researchers at University College London randomly assigned children ages 2 to 6 and their parents to one of three groups for a two-week study. In one group, parents offered their child a daily taste of a vegetable for which the child had indicated a low preference ranking.
In a second group, parents received only general nutrition information about how to increase fruits and vegetables in the diet. The third group served as a control — receiving neither dietary recommendations nor literature.
The kids who received daily exposure increased their liking and consumption of the food, and increased the ranking of the vegetable in question significantly more than children in the other two groups.
And, a majority of parents in the "exposure" group felt that the intervention could have a lasting effect on their children. In some cases, foods their youngsters previously wouldn't touch had actually become their favorites. One parent commented that her child looked forward to the daily tasting, because it had "made food more fun."
If the concept of repeated vegetable exposure sounds too daunting, a group at Pennsylvania State University in University Park suggest another tactic for parents — more of a vegetable "sneak attack."
In a study presented at a scientific meeting last month, the researchers added puréed broccoli and cauliflower to pasta sauce, increasing the nutritional value and decreasing the caloric density of the meal. Children fed the doctored dish could not distinguish it from the conventionally prepared item.
The kids, ages 3 to 5, showed no clear preference for one dish over the other and ate consistent amounts of both. As a result, they ate significantly more vegetables — while reducing their calorie intake by nearly 20%.
Of course, "hiding" vegetables from kids won't necessarily help them acquire a taste for them, which is important for lifelong healthy habits. But there are other strategies to try. It's been shown that kids who help take part in planting, harvesting, purchasing and preparing vegetables generally consume more of these foods. It's also known that parents who offer new foods and set good examples with their own dietary habits are also on the right track.
Still, a little covert cookery may be a good strategy for adults, too — recent surveys indicate that only 40% of Americans eat five or more servings of fruits and vegetables per day, and the newest recommendations are that we consume even more than that.
If sneaking a few vegetables into a pasta sauce, soup, casserole or meat loaf will increase vegetable consumption and decrease calorie intake, the whole family wins.
From the Los Angeles Times
WHAT WE EAT
How to get kids to eat more vegetables
To many children, broccoli, beans and their ilk are just nasty. But a few clever strategies can turn that 'yuck' into 'yes.'
Susan Bowerman
What We Eat
May 21, 2007
The picky eating habits of children can drive parents to distraction. Foods that smell funny, or are too hot, too cold, too crunchy or too mushy: all are candidates for rejection.
And when it comes to trying to get kids to eat their vegetables, the task often seems insurmountable.
Youngsters naturally prefer tasty foods that are high in calories — a nod to their biology, which is designed to ensure adequate intake while they're growing rapidly. But these days, with kids eating more of these plentiful, palatable foods and exercising less and less, the most obvious rapid growth is in the size of their waistlines.
Numerous agencies, including the American Heart Assn. and the American Dietetic Assn., are calling for changes to our children's diets. They want kids to eat fewer high-fat, high-sugar foods in favor of foods with more vitamins, minerals and fiber — ones, in other words, that supply the most nutritional bang for their calorie buck.
No one would argue that one way to reduce calorie intake is to eat more nutrient-dense fruits and vegetables. But many kids have a food "neophobia" — literally, fear of the new — that reaches a peak between the ages of 2 and 6. And this, again, can partly be blamed on biology.
Avoiding the unfamiliar may be an evolutionarily adaptive mechanism — one that serves to protect us from eating potentially poisonous substances that existed in abundance in the plant-rich environment of our ancestors.
Still, studies suggest that with repeated exposure, dislikes can be transformed into desire.
In a report published in the journal Appetite in 2003, for example, researchers at University College London randomly assigned children ages 2 to 6 and their parents to one of three groups for a two-week study. In one group, parents offered their child a daily taste of a vegetable for which the child had indicated a low preference ranking.
In a second group, parents received only general nutrition information about how to increase fruits and vegetables in the diet. The third group served as a control — receiving neither dietary recommendations nor literature.
The kids who received daily exposure increased their liking and consumption of the food, and increased the ranking of the vegetable in question significantly more than children in the other two groups.
And, a majority of parents in the "exposure" group felt that the intervention could have a lasting effect on their children. In some cases, foods their youngsters previously wouldn't touch had actually become their favorites. One parent commented that her child looked forward to the daily tasting, because it had "made food more fun."
If the concept of repeated vegetable exposure sounds too daunting, a group at Pennsylvania State University in University Park suggest another tactic for parents — more of a vegetable "sneak attack."
In a study presented at a scientific meeting last month, the researchers added puréed broccoli and cauliflower to pasta sauce, increasing the nutritional value and decreasing the caloric density of the meal. Children fed the doctored dish could not distinguish it from the conventionally prepared item.
The kids, ages 3 to 5, showed no clear preference for one dish over the other and ate consistent amounts of both. As a result, they ate significantly more vegetables — while reducing their calorie intake by nearly 20%.
Of course, "hiding" vegetables from kids won't necessarily help them acquire a taste for them, which is important for lifelong healthy habits. But there are other strategies to try. It's been shown that kids who help take part in planting, harvesting, purchasing and preparing vegetables generally consume more of these foods. It's also known that parents who offer new foods and set good examples with their own dietary habits are also on the right track.
Still, a little covert cookery may be a good strategy for adults, too — recent surveys indicate that only 40% of Americans eat five or more servings of fruits and vegetables per day, and the newest recommendations are that we consume even more than that.
If sneaking a few vegetables into a pasta sauce, soup, casserole or meat loaf will increase vegetable consumption and decrease calorie intake, the whole family wins.
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