Is there a supplement that can replace the 5-10 daily servings of fruits and vegetables?

6 Comments

1. You can buy a type of vitamin that has fruit and vegetable extracts. I don’t recall the name of it but go browse the vitamin sections at a place like Hi-Health or whatever vitamin shop is in your area. Check the labels, it’ll show things like spinach, watercress and what not. You do have to take it three times a day; the reason being your body does not absorb 100% in one dose, so taking a pill with the full requirements (including regular vitamins) is actually a waste. I believe you can only absorb roughly 33% at a time. Last time I took it, it was about $25 for a month supply. You can’t expect miracles 😉 But, my friend recovering from bulimia and cancer use to take it religiously and was in way better health.

   Personally, I just try to consume more produce. It can be difficult. Some ideas are, make a small salad with dinner. You don’t need to dig out the salad bowl; just toss some lettuce mix on your plate and dab on a little dressing. I also find that I’m not really a salad fan, but just slices of my favorite vegetables with dinner. So I might just cut a half of bellpepper into strips to add on my plate, or add a small handful of cherry tomatoes. If I make pasta, I always add a vegetable at the end. Most rice dishes can stand at least one vegetable. Don’t limit yourself. Have fruit with dinner instead. I love an orange with say, chicken and rice. Husband and I make "east asian" style salad too which is just cucumber, onion, tomatos cut in very small pieces and tossed together. We make a container of it that lasts either 2 or 3 days since it’ll go bad after that point. It’s way tastier than a pile of iceberg and quartered tomatoes. No dressing needed.

   Also, try to change how you think about fruits and vegetables. For example, add onion. That’s a vegetable and it’s good for you. So add onion to a dish and mark off one vegetable serving for the day. Having mexican food? Make a quick pico in a food chopper (tomato, onion, jalepeno). Complimentary, tasty, easy, cheap and. . .another serving. Or two, depending.

   Servings are also far less than you probably think. You don’t need to eat the entire mango for a serving. In fact, a serving of mango is about two wedges (slices). By eating the entire mango, you’ve covered about 3 servings. Of course, you want to keep things varied. That adds nutrients and interest. The rule of thumb is a serving is 1/2 cup. It’s not really too much once you look at it.

   Don’t buy things you don’t like. This sounds like commonsense, but if you just don’t like the big tomatoes, buy the smaller ones. There is a difference in flavor. Try new things too. Shop in season and on sale, so your selection changes over the year. Keep some strawberries frozen in the freezer and packets of smoothie mix on hand, especially during the summer.

   If it’s still just not gonna happen, try the vitamins. You still want to get in some fresh produce, it’s just healthier that way, but those vitamins will help.

2. If you find one let me know! I drink Naked juice when I don’t get enough servings of fruit and veggies. Maybe low sodium V8 juice?

3. Unfortunately you still need to eat some servings per day as tablets and powders cannot replace a balanced diet. I have found that spirulina powder is full of goodness though and it can be mixed with water and a dash of lemon juice for flavour.Available at good health food stores.

4. No, but you can buy organic drinks that have like 2 servings of fruits and veggies like Odwalla or Bolton Farms and they have lots of crazy veggies in them but actually taste good. but it’s still not a replacement for the actual foods themselves.

5. ReBar is a healthy bar that’s like fruit leather with over 20 fruits and vegetables and they taste pretty good too.

6. Nothing can replace fresh produce.

   Why not try having a smoothie of fruit in the day. You can put 5 pieces in and a little water and drink it down. Its quite easy 🙂

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.