HEALTHY EATING FOR A HEALTHY LIFESTYLE

Fruits and vegetables contain essential vitamins, minerals, and fiber that may help protect you from chronic diseases. Compared with people who consume a diet with only small amounts of fruits and vegetables, those who eat more generous amounts as part of a healthful diet are likely to have reduced risk of chronic diseases, including stroke and perhaps other cardiovascular diseases, and certain cancers.

Fruits and vegetables come in terrific colors and flavors, but their real beauty lies in what’s inside. Fruits and vegetables are great sources of many vitamins, minerals and other natural substances that may help protect you from chronic diseases.

To get a healthy variety, think color. Eating fruits and vegetables of different colors gives your body a wide range of valuable nutrients, like fiber, folate, potassium, and vitamins A and C. Some examples include green spinach, orange sweet potatoes, black beans, yellow corn, purple plums, red watermelon, and white onions. For more variety, try new fruits and vegetables regularly.

Some quick and easy ways you can add fruits and veggies into your diet are to add fruit to your breakfast cereal or oatmeal (not just bananas, but also try apples, grapes, berries, peaches, or mandarin oranges); Snack on mini-carrots or dried fruit at work instead of candy; Microwave a vegetable to add to your dinner or eat some fruit for dessert.