The joy of veg-maxxing: how to eat many, many more plants – without really trying
A new report has found many crops are far less nutritious than they once were, so we need to eat more of them. Here is how to get your five portions of fruit and veg a day, easily and affordably – and potentially increase that to ten When Eva Humphries first started working as a nutritionist, she met a client who had just found out he had high blood pressure and high cholesterol, and was on the…
A recent report has revealed that many crops have become less nutritious over time due to declining soil quality. This has sparked a discussion on how we should increase our plant intake. Nutritionist Eva Humphries shares her experience working with a client who was on the brink of type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure. After the client realized he needed to eat more vegetables, he felt an improvement in his mood.
This highlights the importance of incorporating more plants into our diets, even if it seems challenging. The report suggests that aiming for 10 portions of fruit and vegetables per day, rather than the previously recommended five, may be beneficial. While some experts advocate for consuming 30 different plants per week, this can feel overwhelming.
However, the report emphasizes that even whole foods like cereals, fruit, and vegetables, despite having lower nutrient density, are still better than consuming ultra-processed foods. To increase plant intake without much effort, Humphries suggests swapping meat for beans in existing meals. For instance, replacing a tofu curry with a chicken curry or a lentil bolognese with a mince bolognese is an easy way to incorporate more vegetables.
Chef Matt Beardmore from Legare, an Italian restaurant, doubles or triples the amount of sofrito (onion, celery, and carrot base) he uses in his pasta sauces to maximize nutrition. During colder months, soups like minestrone are a great option to utilize vegetable scraps. The report also encourages filling half of your plate with vegetables and diversifying your intake to benefit from various minerals and vitamins.
Additionally, seaweed, which contains iodine, iron, calcium, and magnesium, is another plant to consider incorporating into the diet. Lastly, the way we cook fruits and vegetables can impact their nutrient content, as boiling can break down vitamins C and B.
Written by urgent.news from Guardian Health's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
