Have you wondered how you should eat your fruits and vegetables to get all of their health benefits? The best way to eat fruit and veggies is to eat them raw. When you eat them raw you are enjoying their natural flavors and getting all of the added benefits of their vitamins and minerals. When we cook our fruit or vegetables we lose a lot of their health benefits.
The best way to cook vegetables is to lightly steam them. Never boil or completely cover them with water. When vegetables are covered in water and cooked, all of their vitamin and mineral content leaches out into the water that we dump down the drain. So essentially, we are tossing out all of the health benefits of eating them to begin with and are left with limp vitamin less food. If you don’t already have a steamer basket, I urge you to get one today. You can easily achieve the perfect cooked vegetable with this essential item.
I also keep raw vegetables out for my kids anytime I am cooking them. Both of them seem to prefer the raw over cooked, which I believe has to do with the texture. Even when I lightly saute or steam our vegetables, they usually take on a different texture, and let’s be honest if they want raw over even lightly cooked veggies it is better for them.
Adding fruits and vegetables to your daily diet is essential, not only are they low calorie (which is perfect if you are trying to lose weight), they contain fiber and protein (vegetables contain more protein than fruit), but they contain all of the essential vitamins and minerals that our body craves and requires. Aim to get 3-4 servings of fruits and vegetables each day (a serving is a about 1/2 cup); this might seem like a lot at first but if you eat a large salad at lunch you have probably gotten 2-3 servings of vegetables, eat fruit for breakfast (1-2 servings), a piece of fruit for your afternoon snack, and then a vegetable at dinner. Add these essential vitamins and minerals today, you will notice an increase of energy, a feeling of fullness without feeling sluggish and your body will thank you.