Easy ways to eat more fruits and vegetables

Fruits and vegetables are a crucial part of our diet and their need cannot be overstressed. It is very clear that these ought to make the biggest percentage of our meals. However, there is no one way of consuming them. Take your pick on any of the ways below and enjoy your way to health and a good life.

Juice
“I love blending my vegetables as opposed to eating them. For example, I could blend sukumawiki, dodo and nakati,” Vivienne Adala, the CEO Knick Knacks Afrique, says. The diet enthusiast and co-founder of Kampala Food Network adds that if you are new to this, you could add pineapple or pawpaw to sweeten the vegetables.
“If you do not have a refrigerator, you can turn this juice into your breakfast as it is very heavy that you will not need to snack until about 10am apart from some water,” she adds.

That said, this juice is also a cleanser, which would mean going to the toilet a couple of times. In order to get your system used to it, she suggests you start taking it at the weekend so that after two to three days, your system is clean.
Thereafter, she says, you will be able to take it even at your workplace.

Eating them raw
“You can also eat these vegetables in their raw form as that will see you having more nutrients than if they were steamed,” Aisha Nabisubi, the administrator at AAR Bugolobi, says. In this case, however, you need to ensure you season them with vinegar to deal with any harmful bacteria within. “If you are going to cut your veggies away from home, remember to carry vinegar to pass your vegetables through before eating them,” Adala advises.

Steaming
For vegetables such as dodo and nakati that you may not eat raw, you will have to steam them. “Adding oil or fat to the vegetables when steaming is great as that oil will aid the absorption of the vitamins within such as Vitamin A, K, D and E by the body,” Nabisubi explains.
You can steam them without cutting them into small chunks as cutting them destroys some of the nutrients. If you must cut them, you need not focus on being so neat about it, do it fast as with every delay comes nutrient loss. For that fresh crunchy feel, shallow frying is preferred.

Tips for packing/preserving
Nabisubi says you need to ensure that they have plenty of air. Do not use plastic bags to carry your vegetables because they will trap any moisture, causing the fruits and vegetables to rot very fast.
“A partitioned container would do as it allows you to carry various fruits without mixing them. However, ensure that it is the kind that allows aeration within,” she advises.

Make sure you do not pack fruits and vegetables together. Nabisubi says some fruits give off high levels of ripening agent so fast they can prematurely ripen and spoil the vegetables.
Keep your bottle of juice in a cool place and away from the sun. Do not leave it in the bag as heat tends to undermine its quality.
You could use food preservatives such as vinegar for the vegetables to deal with stubborn bacteria such as E.coli that do not get washed off with water.

Caution
Aisha Nabisubi, the administrator at AAR Bugolobi, says sweet fruits such as watermelon, pears, and apples are very nutritious when consumed whole, but if you consume too many of them juiced, the amount of sugar and fructose you are adding to your diet could be over the top. “If a juice has too much natural sugar it can affect insulin levels dramatically causing cravings which can in turn lead to weight gain,” she says.

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