I am okay with putting extra
vegetables in my “almost homemade” soups, but admit that I find most vegetables
boring. The produce section and the
freezer aisles at the grocery stores do little to change my mind. What’s the fuss about vegetables anyway? We
all know that vegetables are supposed to be good for us but let’s face it;
words like antioxidants, bioflavanoids, phyoestrols and prebiotics don’t
exactly conjure up dreams of candy canes and sugar plums. Why is it that people never get quite serious
about eating vegetables?
Vegetables have been on my
mind lately. I had a physical exam
yesterday, and my doctor actually asked me three times if I was eating my vegetables. In addition to that the Herald featured an
article (November 20, 2012) by Dr. Smoots (www.drsmoots.com)
on the same day. You guessed it; the
article was about the importance of eating vegetables. What are the odds of two doctors asking that
question on the same day?
Vegetables have been under
scrutiny for years. This shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise
to us because we learned about eating vegetables at our mother’s knee. She didn’t know about antioxidants, but she
did know what was good for us. Researchers have proven that she was
right. The mysteries are being unraveled
everyday, and the role played by these simple nutrients is huge.
Put an extra serving of
vegetables on your dinner plates tonight and see if anyone notices. Don’t say a word about how good they are for
you, because for some reason that is a real turn off. Just do it and hope for the best. A
friend of mine wrote complaining about her husbands dismal eating habits. She said that he would rather complain about
constipation than prevent it by being mindful of what he eats and drinks. It is hard to break bad habits or change
stubborn taste buds. My friend, by the
way, is a registered dietitian. She has
always been very invested in sound nutritional practices, and is a very good
cook. She has cooked and cajoled and nagged about
the healthy benefits of good nutrition
for years to little or no avail. Do you
have any ideas on how to make a stubborn senior
change his nutritional ways?
Good nutrition can help you
live longer and be healthier. The USDA
wants you to eat two to five servings of vegetables a day. They can only make recommendations. They can’t make you do it. It is up to you to make a practice of
doubling up on your vegetable consumption.
Start with Thanksgiving Dinner. Put vegetables on your plate first; hopefully
there will be a little less room for stuffing and dessert.
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