The Lazy Days of Summer Are Here, but for Fruits and Vegetables, It S a Busy Time of Year

Live Healthy Georgia – Seniors Taking Charge! June 2007 Newsletter Fun with Fruits and Vegetables By Mindy Bell, BS

The lazy days of summer are here, but or ½ cup 100% juice. For most cut-up for fruits and vegetables, it’s a busy raw or cooked vegetables, ½ cup time of year. It’s time for colorful counts as a serving, and one cup is a crops of fruits and vegetables to serving for leafy salad greens. You dazzle the eye and please the palate. may already be getting more servings With so much produce available, it’s than you think! also time to take advantage of the nutrition fruits and vegetables have to While we all have our favorites, it is a offer. good idea to eat a wide variety of fruits and vegetables. An easy way to Fruits and vegetables are the perfect do this is by “eating from the examples of what you just can’t get rainbow.” When you fill your grocery from dietary supplements. Not only cart with fruits and vegetables, look to do they contain vitamins and minerals, see if you have several colors there. they also contain an array of natural For example, orange sweet potatoes, compounds called phytochemicals that and bright green broccoli florets make help to protect our bodies from a delicious complement disease. Fruits and vegetables fill us to an evening meal. up by providing fiber and water, and, not to mention, the colors and flavors Try to think of of these foods appeal to our senses. examples for each color: orange/yellow (carrots, The 2005 Dietary Guidelines squash, pumpkin, recommends that we get about seven oranges), green, especially dark green to ten servings of fruits and vegetables (green beans, spinach, collards, peas), daily in our older years, depending on blue/purple (grapes, plums, our calorie needs. While this may blueberries), red (tomatoes, peppers, seem like a lot, it can be very easy to cherries, berries), and white get them in. Consider that one serving of fruit is only ½ banana or large (garlic, onions, cauliflower). Eating a apple, ¼ cup dried fruit, ½ cup berries, variety of colors ensures that you’re Department of Foods and Nutrition, The University of Georgia, GA 30602 1 Division of Aging Services, Georgia Department of Human Resources, Atlanta, GA 30303 Live Healthy Georgia – Seniors Taking Charge! getting the many different nutrients Breakfast: Add fruit to whole grain that are found in different types of cereal; enjoy a veggie omelet or fruits and vegetables. scramble; layer fruit, yogurt, and granola for a tasty parfait; top whole Fruits and vegetables can be prepared grain waffles with fruit; have 100% in a variety of ways. Try steaming, juice baking, grilling, and roasting to create Lunch: Have a sandwich with bean different flavor experiences. Herbs or tomato soup; build a mixed greens and spices, such as cinnamon, basil, salad topped with grilled chicken; garlic, and parsley, can add zest to create a veggie burrito or stuff a pita fruits and vegetables without adding a pocket with vegetables and cheese; lot of fat, salt, have a baked potato with chili and sugar. Evening meal: Enjoy vegetable side dishes, like a baked sweet potato and While we often steamed broccoli; try whole wheat only think of pasta with tomato sauce or tossed with fresh fruits and veggies; add vegetables to casseroles; vegetables piled in the produce section top pizza with veggies of the grocery store, don’t forget Snacks: Munch on a few baked frozen, canned, and dried varieties. tortilla chips with fat-free bean dip or These count toward daily fruit and salsa; dip raw vegetables in low-fat vegetable intake, too. For instance, ranch or in peanut butter; thread fruit try making lasagna or an enchilada onto skewers with cheese cubes for using frozen spinach, or use canned quick kabobs peaches for a quick cobbler. Be sure to check the package labels, however, For more information, see: to be sure they do not have added fat, 2005 Dietary Guidelines at: salt, and sugar. http://www.health.gov/dietaryguidelines/ dga2005/document/ (see Chapter 5 and So what might a day of eating fruits Appendix A2) and vegetables look like? Look at the following ideas on how to MyPyramid at: http://www.mypyramid.gov/pyramid/ind fit them into your daily ex.html diet. Fruits and Veggies, More Matters at: http://www.fruitsandveggiesmatter.gov/

Department of Foods and Nutrition, The University of Georgia, GA 30602 2 Division of Aging Services, Georgia Department of Human Resources, Atlanta, GA 30303