Since its inception in 1992 the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (an independent, non-profi t organization) has been taking a hard look at health care in Ontario.  This month they published a health comparison of the different provinces in Canada, with a focus on the three leaders; British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec.  I found it really interesting, so I thought that I would share some of the findings here.

 It appears that Ontarians are not going to be winning the prize for healthiest Canadian.  The residents of British Columbia win that honour.  They have better health behaviour, healthier body weights, higher targets for future health and three times more resources devoted to improving behaviours related to diet, obesity and physical activity.

 Quebec was seen to be a leader because they are working to improve their health.  In comparison, Ontario will remain fairly stagnant while Quebec will be working to make their residents healthier. 

 In addition to this the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences also made some recommendations which they feel will make Ontario the healthiest province in Canada.  Here are a few of them;

Ontario’s health behaviour goals should be at least a ambitious as those stated by other leading provinces

The Ontario government should understand how Ontarians feel about health behaviours and incorporate that understanding into the provinces’ health strategy

Compared to other leading jurisdictions, the Ontario government should allocate more resources towards improving health behaviours related to smoking, physical activity, diet and obesity

Ontario should be the first province to introduce new innovative and effective strategies to improve health behaviours among its residents

Ontario should narrow existing health and health behaviour disparities

I feel like these goals are all very well thought out and would be effective.  The second goal in particular really impressed me.  If the government just starts making changes without the support of the population, then chances are that they will not be embraced. 

The fourth goal bothers me a bit.  Ontario does not necessarily need to introduce “new innovative” strategies.  Infact, we should maybe take a look at what they are doing in British Columbia.  Using a method which has been proven effective may be a better approach, rather than taking risks.

 Publications like this are important, because being aware of the strengths and flaws of our health system is the first step in being able to change for the better in a meaningful way.

You can take a look at the whole thing Here

Do you often wait in anticipation every November for those crates of little clementines to appear in your grocery store?

I certainly do.  They always remind me of Christmastime, not to mention they are also very tastly.

It may be because they are so delicious, or because they are so cute and small and convenient, but I always eat large quantities of them when they are available.

As far as nutritional value goes, they are pretty simple;

 One clementine  = 35 calories

All of these calories are coming from about 9 grams of carbohydrates

They contain small amounts  of fibre, folic acid and potassium.

The big news is that one clementine contains 36 mg of vitamin C, which works out to be about ½ of most female’s daily requirement.

So I have large amounts of vitamin C during November and December.  This is great news for my immune system!

The immune system is very important to maintaining health, especially in this year’s cold and flu season.   It seems that there are new claims everyday on how to boost your immune system in the hopes of being able to fight off any germs that you may come into contact with.  Diet can be very useful in trying to boost your immune system because almost all vitamins and minerals consumed in the diet will play some role in ensuring an optimal immune response from  your body.  But some vitamins and nutrients have been touted as having special immune-boosting powers!

For at least the past 40 years vitamin C has been suspected to ‘ward off colds’.  We have all heard anecdotal evidence about eating lots of citrus fruits (which are high in vitamin C) to prevent getting sick.  This is not necessarily the case.  Studies have shown that vitamin C can reduce the duration and severity of a cold, but doesn’t appear to stop a cold from developing.

An adequate vitamin C status is important for the immune cells involved in defense against viruses, like a flu.  The other main functions of vitamin C are to:

• Aide in wound healing
• Teeth, gum and bone health
• Keep blood vessel walls strong
• Help absorb iron from foods in our diet

So vitamin C is great for you, this probably means that you should eat 1/2 a crate of clementines in one sitting, right?

This is not the case.   There is insufficient evidence to advise taking more vitamin C to prevent colds or the flu.  Consuming adequate vitamin C will provide you with benefits, but overloading will not equal an immune system of steel.

You will have to justify your clementine binge through other reasoning, because eating two or three clementines a day will be sufficient for optimal immune functioning.

If you are interested in diet and immune function you should take a look at what the Dietitians of Canada have to say about Zinc and Selenium.

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While at the local Farmer’s Market on Saturday I came into possession of turnips.  These are one of the last remaining items in season in Ontario,and I wanted to capitalize on that.  I do not know what came over me; possibly a late Canadian November urge to store up for the winter, but I got two turnips.  Both are much larger than my head. 

So, there is no need for me to present my intake for today…because it will be turnip.

Pliny the Elder was a Roman naturalist who lived from the years 25 to 79. He died when Mount Vesuvius exploded and destroyed  Pompeii and Herculaneum because he got on his ship and sailed to the island to rescue his friends and family.  Unfortunately for him the prevailing wind would not allow his ship to leave the shore after his rescue.  I find him very facinating and it appears that it is rather stylish to quote him these days.  He is the source of such gems as:

“The only certainty is that nothing is certain”

“in wine there is truth”

For the record he also had some words to say about turnips, because one day he stated that it was one of the most important vegetables and   ”it should be spoken of immediately after corn, or the bean, at all events; for next to these two productions, there is no plant that is of more extensive use.”

Better than beans?! Easy there, Pliny.  Let’s not get carried away here.

Is turnip really as important as Pliny the Elder thinks?  Who am I to ignore an almost 2000 year old message?  A closer look must be taken.

Here are the facts

Turnip roots contain:

•  Vitamin C (a lot of it!)
•  B6
• Folate
• Calcium
•  Potassium
•  Copper

 It is also a low calorie food that contains a lot of dietary fibre.  In addition to these nutrients there has been research on anticarcinogens in this root vegetable.

An anticarcinogen (3,3′-Diindolylmethane) found in turnips and other Brassica vegetables (cauliflower and broccoli) is a potential modulator of the innate immune response system with potent anti-viral, anti-bacterial and anti-cancer activity.  It was found that greater turnip intakes in wowen was associated with a significantly lower postmenopausal breast cancer risk.

Turnip can often be confused with rutabaga in Canada, since both are commonly grown.  They are both members of the Brassica family and look quite similar but as a general rule, turnips are usually white fleshed and a rutabaga has yellow flesh.  They good news is that they are both great for you…so if you happen to pick up a rutabaga instead of the turnip that I have convinced you to get, then I wouldn’t worry about it.

 

References:

Verkerk, et al. (2009). Glucosinolates in Brassica vegetables: The influence of the food supply chain on intake, bioavailability and human health. MOLECULAR NUTRITION & FOOD RESEARCH,vol.53,pp.S219-S265.

Breakfast

-      Bran flakes (3/4 cup) with skim milk (1/2 cup)

 -     Banana

-      Orange

-      Tea with milk

Snack

-      Kiwi

-      Almonds

Lunch

-      Eggplant and bean curry

-      Pineapple

Snack

-      Chocolate chip cookies (2)

Dinner

-      1 cup mixed vegetables

-     2 oz cheese

-     Apple

Snack

-      Yougurt

-      Peppermint tea

So…I should admit something to the internet.  I as you may have noticed I have tea pretty much everyday.  Often several times per day.  Since I do not include quantities it would be logical for you to assume that it was just one cup.  I am guilty in deliberately leaving out quantites in the very hope that this would happen. 

You see, I have a bit of a bad habbit.   I drink a lot of tea. 

Canadians drink almost 9 billion cups of tea each year.  This works out to be about 270 cups a year for each individual.

I drink about 2000 cups of tea each year.  Usually when I say ‘I had some tea’ I really mean ‘I had a pot of tea’.

Needless to say I am well above average consumption.   Today was an average day and I had six cups.  Four of those were black tea, which I will focus on today.

I drink tea simply because I enjoy it, but it also has many health benefits.

There is so much research in this area, and so many new studies and health claims that it is easy to get overwhelmed, as I did.  Braced with a steaming mug of tea I carefully looked through the research and came across a great recource.  A group of leading American experts in the fields of nutrition, epidemiology, obesity, hydration and phytochemicals got together in 2006 to establish The Daily Healthy Beverage Guidelines, which was published in the March 2006 issue of the Journal of American Clinical Nutrition.  The researchers conducted a systematic literature review of nearly 150 scientific research papers and studies on beverages and health to develop the guidelines.   This source rates tea as second only to water as a healthy beverage choice.  It also indicated that individuals can drink up to eight servings of tea a day as part of a healthy diet.  This made me breath a hugh sigh of relief, because I really had no idea what a healthy quantity was. 

It is known that black, green and oolong tea provide a variety of antioxidants and flavonoids, as well as micronutrients such as fluoride.

• Antioxidants prevent and fight cancer antioxidants by preventing or delaying the formation of tumours.  Antioxidants slow the growth rate of precancerous cells, as well as enhance the body’s ability to naturally kill precancerous and cancerous cells.
• Flavonoids in tea protect body cells from damage caused by carcinogens and free radicals by acting as antioxidants.   Studies have also shown that flavonoids help maintain normal cell growth rates which is important in controling the progression of cancer.
• Flouride reduces tooth decay and cavities
• Heart health can be improved and the risk of cardiac disease can be decreased by regular consumption of tea.  Although the exact mechanisms are not yet known, tea improves blood vessel function and cholesterol levels.

This is just a small sample of the health benefits of tea.  There is so much information available for those of you who are interested.  In fact, I was wondering why it does not get more attention as some sort of miracle beverage; Got kidney stones? drink tea! Bad breath? Tea! Bitten by a venemous snake? Here is a nice cup of tea! (no joke. HUNG et al. Discovered in 2004 that melanin extracted from black tea  has an antagonistic activity against different venoms and may allow effective life-saving treatment against snakebites.)

And for those of you with a bit of a tea addiction, no worries!  Just keep beneath 8 cups a day and try not to sweeten your tea, because that sugar can really add up. 

So keep sipping away to enjoy a long, healthy life!

 Here is a good source for more tea information: Tea Association of Canada

Since 1982 the size of our food has changed.

•  the standard size of a hamburger has increased 112 %
• Bagels are 95 % bigger
• Servings of pasta have gone up about 480 %

You may say that you would recognize this, and adjust your intake accordingly. This is a valid argument. You may only eat half of your pasta in a restaurant and take the rest home for later. However when food is ‘presented’ as a serving, we often do not take the trouble of considering whether the bagel with a diameter to rival a dinner plate (a 2009 dinner plate or a 1970’s plate? They have changed too, you know!) is more than you need. Our judgment can not always be trusted.

Think about what happened when people from Ontario were asked to identify the ‘correct’ (as identified by Eating Well with Canada’s Food Guide) serving sizes. They were shown 9 types of foods using visual aides. Each of these foods was presented in different amounts. When asked to identify the correct serving sizes only 50% of the people correctly identified at least 5 of the 9 serving sizes.

We are being given bigger portions, and we are often unable to recognize this.

How much should we eat?

My simple answer is that we should follow Eating Well with Canada’s Food Guide. It tells us, based on gender and age, how much each of us should be eating. They provide clear guidelines for the correct portion sizes. How do we do stick to those portion sizes? This is where things can get tricky. The food guide provides portion sizes for most foods in volume measurements and in weight measurements.

The only problem is that nobody has the time, or the inclination to use a measuring cup or scale every time they eat something. My personal solution is to just estimate. Does this really work? I was going to have to do a little experiment to find out!

 It may be helpful to measure something out once and then put the correct portion onto a plate or bowl that you usually eat out of. This way you can see what the correct portion of that food looks like. I will conclude with saying that all three of us noted that we would not actually eat the suggested serving. In general, we said that we would probably eat a bit more. So, even if you can pour the correct amount, is that what you will eat?

 Recources

http://www.eatrightontario.ca/en/viewdocument.aspx?id=24 http://www.readersdigest.ca/food/cms/xcms/perfect-portion-size-guide_409_a.html Malaviarachchi, D., Colapinto, C. (2005). Knowledge of Canada’s Food Guide to Healthy Eating and Serving Size Awareness. Public Health Research, Education & Development program

Tuesday

Two years ago I lived with two other girls, and we would always prepare and eat our evening meals together.  It was rather touching actually, now that I think about it.  We would even set the table with cutlery and cloth napkins.  I can barely comprehend that three girls in their second year of university would use napkins at all, let alone nicely folded cloth ones.  But, more to the point, we would always eat tofu on Tuesdays, which is how the title of this post came to be.  My food intake for the day is posted, and after reading it some of you may be compelled to say “But Emily, you didn’t actually eat tofu today” and this would be true.  But take a look at what I did eat, and think about how it may relate to tofu.

 Breakfast

-      Bran flakes (1 cup) with skim milk (3/4 cup)

-      Orange

-      Tea with milk

Snack

-      Apple

-      Yogurt (1 cup)

Lunch

-      Salad

• Lettuce (2 cups)
• Calorie-reduced Italian dressing
• Beans (Mixed, about 1 cup)
• Sliced green peppers

Dinner

-      Turnip (About ½ cup)

-      Omelet

• 1 Egg
• Chopped Onion (2 Tablespoons)
•  Diced Jalapeño  Pepper
• Spinach (1/2 cup fresh)
• Cheddar cheese (about ¼ cup shredded)

Snack

-      Almonds (6)

-      Raisins (about ¼ cup)

-      Peanut butter (1 tsp)

So, it should be pretty obvious to most readers out there (hi mom!) that the topic that I am going to focus on today is alternative forms of protein!

I am not a Flexitarian or Lacto-ovo-vegetarian, or on any sort of dietary restriction, but I just happen to not eat meat very often.  This does not mean that my intake of protein is low.  Foods that would be considered alternative forms of protein are:

-      Beans or legumes

-      Peanut butter

-      Eggs

-      Nuts and seeds

-      Tofu

From a nutrition point of view  the quality of different types of proteins depends on two main factors:

1) The amount of essential amino acids.            *Amino acids are what proteins are made of.  There are 20 different types of amino acids, and our bodies use all of these.            *Essential amino acids are ones that our body cannot produce.  There are nine of these.  The other 11 can be manufacture in the body, but the essential amino acids must be consumed in our diet.  Clearly they are very important!If a protein contains all nine essential amino acids, then it is called a complete protein.

2) Digestibility.Not all proteins are equal once we eat them.  If a protein cannot be digested and absorbed, then it really is not going to benefit you, even if it does have all 9 essential amino acids.Thankfully there are general rules that we can follow; Proteins from animal sources such as eggs, fish, meat and dairy products are highly digestible (about 90% absorbed) Soy products are highly digestible (about 90% absorbed) Legumes are fairly digestible (about 80% absorbed) Grains and vegetable proteins have a comparatively low level of digestibility (ranges from 60 to 90% absorption)

 So what does all of this mean?

 Well, animal sources provide complete protein, and they have a very high digestibility rate.  Since we are talking about alternatives, this means eggs and dairy products.

Next we have soy.  It is also a complete source of protein.  It is special because all other plant sources are incomplete proteins.  In addition to this, is also has high digestibility.  This is why soy is often seen as the ‘king’ of alternative forms of protein.

 Beans are great as well because they are lower in fat and still provide protein, iron, B vitamins and fibre.

So, these foods do provide protein, but did they provide enough for me today? 

There are 2 ways that I will measure to see if this is adequate.

1) According to Canada’s Food Guide.  This does not take into account any dairy products, so I will look at the amount of beans, eggs, almonds and peanut butter that I ate.I should be eating 2 servings because I am a female between the ages of 19 and 50. For the record:One Food Guide serving of meat equals 75 g (2 ½ ounces) cooked.This is approximately: 1/2 of a chicken breast or a chicken leg with thigh (without skin) 125 mL (1/2 cup) of flaked fish or ground meat 3 slices (75 g) of packaged luncheon meat (check the package label for the number of grams per serving) For alternatives, these count as 1 serving: 175 mL (3/4 cup) of cooked beans, peas or lentils, or tofu 30 mL (2 tbsp) of peanut butter 60 mL (1/4 cup) shelled nuts and seeds 2 eggs I had A little over 1 serving of beans 1/6 a serving of peanut butter 1/4 serving of nuts and seeds ½ serving of eggs  I would say that this comes very close to 2 servings.  Yay for me!

2) Compare with the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA)The recommended amount of protein will be adequate for 97 to 98% of the population. For females 19 to 30 the recommendation is 46 grams per day.To determine how many grams of protein I consumed I used a dietary analysis software.  I put in all of the alternative protein foods I ate that were in the ‘meats and alternatives’ section of Canada’s Food Guide as well as the dairy products that I consumed.Between the milk, yogurt, beans, eggs, cheese, almonds and peanut butter I had 70 grams of protein.  This number is well above the RDA (which has been criticized for being set too low) so I am also getting enough protein by these standards.

So for everyone out there who likes their bacon with more bacon – It’s OK to not eat meat every once and a while! Try using beans and legumes instead of ground meat in your next pasta sauce.  It’s also a great time of year to eat delicious pumpkin seeds as a snack.  Maybe even implement Tofu Tuesdays (cloth napkins optional).

Hmmm, how do I put this without overstating myself….This is my favourite meal of the day!  I love all types of breakfast foods.  I have long suspected that I am actually addicted to cereal, and I get oddly passionate about oatmeal. 

In North America breakfast can consist of some of the best foods for your body such as whole grains, fresh fruit, and dairy.  Alternatively, it can also be a source of some of the worst foods.  If you choose to eat large muffins, danishes, waffles and bacon every morning you are doing yourself damage before you’ve even left the house.

I always try to eat a balanced breakfast with whole grains, fruit, and low fat dairy.

I find that getting the whole grains is where most people make mistakes, and since navigating the cereal aisle almost requires a map, its no surprise.  There can also be an astonishing amount of hidden salt and sugar in breakfast cereals

 If flavour is not the top priority to you, and you just want a healthy cereal, then your best bet is to check the Nutrition Facts tables on the boxes.  Dietitian Samara Felesky-Hunt recommends that we look for cereal that is

- Low in sodium: 140mg of sodium or less per recommended serving.

- High in fibre: Four grams or more per recommended serving.

- Sugar content: no more than twice its fibre content (if a cereal has three grams of fibre, it should have no more than six grams of sugar).

Although I love any and every other form of breakfast foods, I tend to stick with cereal or oatmeal as the basis of my morning meal.  I tend to keep my cereal fairly plain; Bran Flakes with skim milk and a cut up banana or seasonal berries overtop .  However I do like to get inventive with my oatmeal.  This is a visual representation of what happened to my bowl of oatmeal this morning

The salt, vanilla and cinnamon are mostly there for flavour.  But the rest of these ingredients have great health benefits and are a great addition to any breakfast.

Just a little note on the flax before I go!

Flax is a great source of Omega-3 fatty acids and many other things.  However, since the outer skin is too tough to be digested in the body, and the chances of pulverizing these tiny seeds with your teeth is pretty slim, it is always smart to grind them up in order to absorb the nutrients that this seed offers. 

As you can see here I am using whole flax seeds, so I need to grind them up before adding them to my food.  I do this by using this little device, which is pretty much a pepper mill with a cap on it to catch the seeds as a grind them.  It was meant to be used to grind spices, but if you put it on the smallest setting it works perfectly for flax. 

So, to summarize:  Breakfast can be an excellent opportunity to fuel your body for the day, just be sure to make the right choices when it comes to what you are eating. 

Samara Felesky-Hunt, (2009). How to choose a breakfast cereal. The Calgary Herald.

Salvia hispanica L aka Chia Seeds

Chia…strike a bell with anyone?

For those of you who did not grow up in the 80’s or 90’s, or if you were just too busy playing Super Nintendo or cuddling up to your new Beanie Baby, here is the first commercial advertisement to remind you.

Yes, I’m talking about Chia Pets.  As well as nutrition.  Really, I am going somewhere with this. 

 The seeds that we used to grow the grass/hair on our beloved childhood Chia pets is the same seed that is now becoming commonly known as the new supergrain.

I have only recently became reacquainted with the seed as a food item, so as with anything new which I would potentially plan on putting in my mouth I had to do some research first.  Alas, my 90’s childhood has served me well, as this commercial from ’92 sends a clear message.

I found that there is quite a lot of recent research being done on chia seeds, despite the fact that they have been a food item since the Aztec civilization.  This new interest in the seed may be largely due to the fact that until recently we were unaware of the exact benefits of the seeds.  Now that good quality research is uncovering a bounty of information there are more and more people showing interest.  Most of the studies that I looked at were published in 2009, so keep in mind that a lot of this information is new, and often still unproven.  Although most studies reported exciting numbers (more on that soon), there were a select few that reported that the seeds had little to no effect when used in the human diet.

Here is a little background information

Many of the studies done on this seed were carried out by Vladimir Vuksan, a man who appears to have accomplished everything short of world peace.  He is currently a Professor in the departments of Endocrinology and Nutritional Sciences at the University of Toronto.  He is also Associate Director of the Risk Factor Modification Centre at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto.  While at the University of Toronto he has carried out extensive research on Salba®*.  

His findings suggest that the seed:

• Is the richest source of Omega 3’s found in nature.  This is important since our body relies entirely on our diet for this type of ‘good’ fat!
• Has more dietary fibre than any other food in nature (gram for gram).  Just 2 tbsp contains 15 grams of fibre (that’s 60% of my recommended daily intake)
• Has 6 times more calcium than milk
• Has 7 times more vitamin C than an orange 
• Has 3 times more Iron than spinach
• Has 15 times more magnesium than broccoli
• Is a good source of vegetable-based protein
• Has antioxidants

To put some these numbers into perspective, 3 1/2 ounces of Salba® contain:

• The same amount of omega-3 fats as 28 ounces of Atlantic salmon
• As much calcium as three cups of milk
• As much fiber as one and a quarter cups of All-Bran cereal
• As much iron as five cups of raw spinach
• As much vegetable protein as one and a half cups of kidney beans
• As much potassium as one and a half bananas
• As much vitamin C as seven oranges

This was enough to get me interested!  To see more detailed information take a look at the nutrition facts table to the right.  Chia seeds can easily be found at most health food or bulk food stores, so I picked some up and started adding them to my oatmeal a couple times a week.  I can’t say that anything earth shattering has happened from consuming them, but they carry no flavour and blend in really well with most foods, so I am going to continue to keep them as a part of my diet.

*Salba®  is a commercial variety of chia, which was developed by a Toronto based company, Salba®  Research and Development Inc.  This particular strain of Salvia hispanica L. has been developed so that it produces white seeds (rather than the regular black) and is said to have a more reliable Omga 3 content.  I only bring these differences up, because it appears that a lot of research has been done on Salba® specifically.  Other sources claim that the nutritional differences between the black and white seeds are negligible.  Personally, I eat the black seeds, which still go under the name of ‘chia seeds’ since, as with most commercially registered items, the seeds going by the name Salba® are more expensive.

Cook, D. (2008). Vice Squad. The Toronto Star.

Ko, M., (2003). Chia Seeds: The New Supergrain?. Office for Science and Society.

Smith, Melissa Diane, (2009). Super seeds: plant some new seeds–including chia and hemp–into your diet and reap the health benefits. Better Nutrition, vol.71, no.9, pp.60.

Check out the About Me section to find out what this blog is all about

Breakfast

-      Bran flakes (3/4 cup) with skim milk (1/2 cup)

 -      ½ Banana

-      Orange

-      Coffee with milk

Snack

-      Dried figs (4)

-      Tea with milk

Lunch

-      Salad (romaine lettuce (2 cups) with a tomato, black olives and calorie-reduced Italian dressing)

-      Papaya (about 1 cup)

-      Walnuts (about one Tbsp)

Dinner

-      Sweet potato (roasted with 1 tsp canola oil)

-      Peas (3/4 cup)

-      Peach

Snack

-      Banana

-      Peanut butter (1 tsp)

 

Wow!  This is a fairly typical weekday for me and do you notice how many fruits and vegetables I eat?

Based on the portion sizes outlined in Canada’s Food Guide I ate 13 portions of fruits and vegetables today!  Considering the Guide recommends that as a 21 year old female I should have 7-8, we can safely say that I am above and beyond that.  As far as food consumption goes, it is safe to say that more is not always better.  Fresh fruits and vegetables are good sources of vitamins and minerals, as well as fiber.  They also provide energy in the form of carbohydrates.  These are all good things to be consuming, and even in amounts such as this, the vitamins and minerals in these foods is not high enough to cause toxicity.  In Canada, most vitamin and mineral toxicity comes from the overuse of supplements.  However, a far more common situation here is under consumption of fruits and vegetables.

Based on this information gathered by the Canadian government (a trustworthy source) about 42% of Ontario citizen ages 12 and over consumes fruits and vegetables five or more times per day.  That’s less than half of the people in this province! I did take a certain pride in noting that the region that included Guelph, my city, held the highest percentage of fruit and veggie munchers, at 50% (Canadian Community Health Survey 2007).  Perhaps we can attribute this to our wonderful Farmer’s Market.  Outside of Ontario it appears that the numbers are not improving, either.  A 2006 (Neilson) survey revealed that only 24% of Canadians eat at least 5 servings of fruit and vegetables a day.

If you fall in the category of people who do not consume the recommended number of fruits and vegetables, or even if you do and are looking for ways to make your daily consumption more interesting, there are many resources out there.  The internet is a great place to start looking for information.

The 5 to 10 a Day website provides Canadian’s with great information about all things green (and orange, red, purple, brown and yellow).  They provide nutritional information, as well as recipes and even have a selection of campaign products to help get other people as excited about fruits and veggies as you are!

 Another good site, Fruit & Veggies More Matters is a great place to get interactive.  They have hundreds of instructional videos, as well as information on how to shop, purchase, store, prepare and eat fruits and vegetables.  This site is put out by the Produce for Better Health Foundation, which is a non-profit consumer education foundation.

I personally love the taste of fruits and vegetables, and find them convenient.  If I’m in a hurry I can just grab a piece of fruit, and most vegetables cook very quickly.  They are also affordable, especially when in season, and easy to prepare.  My intake is so high because you’ll notice that I actually eat a piece of fruit or vegetable at every meal and snack that I had today.  Since I eat about 5 or 6 times a day, that automatically gets me a good start on my daily intake.