Add Fruits and Vegetables to Your Diet

If you are overweight, and you want to improve your health by losing weight, most of the advice you get is about what you can’t do. Don’t eat this. Don’t eat that. Don’t sit too much. Many of us don’t respond to that kind of advice very well. Those negative approaches don’t work very well.

Let’s not talk about what you can’t do. Let’s talk about what you can do. Many of us are living on highly processed foods almost entirely. I know many people like that—especially children. When that food is processed the vitamins, minerals, micronutrients, and antioxidants have been milled out of it almost entirely. Many of us try to replace what is lost with vitamins and supplements, but that does not work nearly as well as getting these elements directly from their natural source which is real whole food. Vitamins and minerals are most effective when they come from food instead of a jar.

In real, unprocessed food, they are accompanied by many other beneficial nutrients, including hundreds of carotenoids, flavonoids, minerals, and antioxidants that aren't in most supplements.  Fruits and vegetables are loaded with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory compounds in a form that we evolved to make use of. The Mediterranean diet is especially effective in keeping us healthy. The link provides more information on that whole food style of eating.

Berries deserve special mention. Along with fiber and vitamins, berries possess plant pigment phytochemicals, such as anthocyanins and ellagic acid, which may be behind their health benefits. Studies have linked increased berry consumption with lower risks of heart disease, Alzheimer's disease, and diabetes. I love blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries and some of them can be found wild if you are in a rural area.

I especially like blueberries and I have planted blueberries everywhere I have lived as an adult. These are great plants and will grow in a sunny spot in your yard with very little attention. Since I live in the South, I always plant southern highbush blueberries, but there are northern highbush varieties that will grow in northern states. One mature southern highbush plant can produce 20 quarts of fruit. We just wash them, let them dry on a towel, and then we freeze them. With a little added water and fertilizer, these plants do really well. The blueberry is the best examply I know of food as medicine. The least expensive plants are bareroot. Get a few of those and you will have plenty of good free fruit to improve your health.

It seems crazy, but there are many in our country today who are overweight and malnourished at the same time. They get plenty of calories, but the don’t get the antiinflammatory and antioxidant compounds that are so beneficial. Start by adding some fruit and vegetables to your diet. Gradually eat more whole, real food until you are eating lean meat, eggs, seafood, fruits, vegetables, beans, peas, and nuts. You can even eat one processed food meal a week and still lose a pound or two a month with no hunger.

Nothing could be easier. No expensive special foods and shakes. No pills or shots. No counting calories. No food diaries. Just eating real, whole, healthy food. Let’s get started.