7 ways to incorporate 5-a- day diet in your meals

Eating five portions of fruit and vegetables each day reduces the risk of premature death by a 25% while seven portions reduces the risk by 50%. You have probably missed a fruit for a week or more because of forgetfulness or just not being into it. You also probably do not have a clue what a portion of fruit or vegetable is.

Due to the number of vitamins and minerals they are packed with to help our body function at its optimum, vegetables should always be included in the diet every day for better health. They are also high in fiber to keep the digestive system healthy and ensuring that you feel energized for longer. How then do we do that?

Have fruits in your breakfast: This is the most important meal of the day and having a portion of fruits and vegetables in it can help you feel rejuvenated and ready to conquer the world. You could mix berries, chop up bananas, pineapples or fruits of your choice and mix them with your bowl of cereal. Snack on fruits: in between meals, instead of snacking on unhealthy foods, you can always carry a whole fruit with you or a bowl of fruit like carrot sticks, slices of citrus fruit, granola bar, or any of the choices from the nut family. Sandwiches: Instead of stuffing your whole meal bread with ham, cheese, eggs or eggs, replace them with fresh vegetables. Depending on how you like your vegetables, you can steam the vegetables and stuff them while still crunchy or you could have them raw. Like tomatoes, cucumbers, and the like. Take smoothies: freshly made smoothies are a great way to take a number of fruits together. They can be mixed to your liking with no restrictions but you also have to watch your portions so you do not overdo. After blending, do not sieve to make it smoother than it already is, you would be separating the main nutrients from the fruits. The thicker the better. Take vegetables with all your meals: when taking meat, choose to have vegetables on the side as this will help with digestion and fill you up fast too. Vegetable soup: with plenty of flavors to choose from, one can use stock to boil a variety of chopped vegetables to your liking and have them as they are or blend them lightly to make them softer. Have slices of fruit in your water: for a change, you can have fruit flavored water by dipping sliced fruit in the water bottle. Like strawberries, apples, lime, mint leaves, and nibble on the fruit when done. Also, be generous with your servings.

Note that having pickles, fruit yoghurt, fruit based pudding, wine, ready-made soups or salads, vegetable crisps or deep fried foods do not count as fruit or vegetable portions.