National Nutrition Week 2024: Ways To Increase Vegetable Intake In Your Meal

Vegetables are essential for women to keep them healthy and fit at every stage of their lives. They are good sources of essential nutrients like dietary fibers, vitamins, potassium, minerals, folate, iron, and magnesium. If you are picky or cranky when it comes to eating vegetables then you should immediately drop this habit of yours. Increasing your vegetable intake can work wonders in improving your immune system, and heart health, aids in managing optimal weight, maintains a healthy gut, and protects your skin from getting damaged. There are several ways and tricks to sneak in veggies in your daily meals to boost your vegetable intake. (Image source: Canva)

1. Add Vegetables Into Every Meal: Incorporating a variety of vegetables into every meal can be a game-changer, especially for those who have a love-hate relationship with them. It's a simple yet effective way to increase your vegetable intake without feeling overwhelmed or stressed. Making vegetables a part of your everyday meal can help you adjust your taste buds. Over time this persistent habit can elevate your likeliness towards veggies and healthy eating. (Image Souce: Pinterest/DinnerattheZoo)

2. Prepare Them Creatively: If you are someone who judges the food based on the way it looks or severed, then you should try more creative ways to prepare your veggies. Start experimenting with various cooking methods such as roasting, grilling, boiling, or stir-frying your vegetables to cater to your unique taste preference. You can even cut your vegetables in multiple and creative ways that can make you curious about eating that dish. (Image Souce: Pinterest/skinnytaste)

3. Give A Healthy Twist To Your Regular Foods: To elevate your interest in eating vegetables you can try giving a healthy yet tasty twist to your regular dishes. You can now eat your favorite foods without feeling guilty such as turning your veggies into chips, noodles, breads, pies, soups, lasagna, and wraps (lettuce wraps). (Image Souce: Pinterest/annessard)

4. Variety Is A Key: Expand your taste pallet but try new vegetables every week. This can help ensure that you are getting an adequate amount of essential nutrients from these vegetables. Ensure that you push your limit and eat vegetables that you usually don’t like such as squash, bottle gourd, bitter gourd, Tinda (Round Gourd), radish, mushroom, pumpkin, broccoli, lotus stem (Kamal kakdi), and ridged gourd (turai). (Image Souce: Pinterest/hinagujral)

Inputs By: Dr Veena Pai, Dietitian, Lilavati Hospital Mumbai (Image Source: ABPLIVE AI)