And we’d just learned all about the five-a-day nutrition rule…
Forget your five-a-day, researchers are saying, it has been suggested we now need seven portions of fruit and vegetables a day to stay happy and healthy.
Happiness and health are highest among those who eat seven portions of fruit and vegetables a day, according to new research.
Seven might sound like a lot, but we have the top tips on how to include seven portions of fruit and vegetables into your food habits… result: delicious, tasty and a very healthy daily diet.
Breakfast:
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. A few minutes should be put aside each morning to prepare and savour a top-tasting, healthy breakfast. You will be set up for the day and shouldn’t feel peckish before lunch.
Add sliced banana to your Weetabix for a fruity and filling breakfast.
Add berries to your porridge for a delicious berry bite. Check out how to spice up your porridge the healthy way here.
Why not go Mediterranean? Serve up sliced fruit and yogurt for breakfast. You’ll be clocking your seven portions already and you won’t even have left the house.
Fruit up your fibre-filled porridge with bananas or berries…
Lunch:
Prepare a nutrition-filled vegetable soup for lunch. It’s the best opportunity to bung plenty of vegetables into the pot at home and create your signature dish. Blitz up your mix and ta-dah, you’ll have created a healthy, and very tasty, vegetable soup. Veggie soup it is…? A roast tomato one perhaps? Or maybe go adventurous and try a spicy pumpkin soup…
Snack:
Try and skip the urge to snack on junk food during the day. If you pack your bag with an apple, banana and a bag of grapes you won’t feel the need to spend on crisps and chocolate. You might be craving a sugar rush but believe us, the sugar kick you get from fruit will be natural, longer and have less of that painful, ‘I’m so tired now’ comedown.
Mmmm….delicious.
Juice It Up:
If you find it difficult to incorporate fruit into your daily diet, try and create a juice or smoothie instead. Not only is it a healthy alternative to a fizzy drink, but it is a great way to use up fruit before they go off.
Dinner:
Put down the extra potatoes and add salad as a side to your evening meals instead. A bit of leafy lettuce, plenty of peppers, some tomatoes and maybe a slice or two of apple will make a fabulous alternative to stodgy sides for any meal. Zest up your salads with these easy-to-make dressings.
Add a little feta cheese and treat yourself to a delicious Greek salad.
