STAY HEALTHY AND LOVE YOUR VEGGIES!

BY CARIN CLEGG, PAEDIATRIC DIETITIAN AND FITNESS PROFESSIONAL

In the cooler months people are always talking about warding off the cold and flu with garlic and vitamin C supplements, however eating enough fruit and vegetables can often be overlooked and can be one of the most beneficial things you can do to keep healthy as well as reduce the severity and duration of illness.

Veggies provide a huge range of nutrients, like vitamin A, B group vitamins and vitamin C which we all know is important for good immune health. They provide antioxidants to keep inflammation at bay, and various minerals depending on the type of vegetable. Vegetables contain different fibres, important for good gut flora, which further strengthen our immune system and keeps us feeling happy and regular.

Vegetables are such an integral part of a balanced diet, however, most Australian’s struggle to get their 5 a day (or two and a half cups).

Learning to eat vegetables as a child is actually quite difficult

ƒ Learning to eat new foods is not as simple as just putting it in your mouth. It can take over 14 exposures to learn to like a new food. So just keep offering and asking your kids to have a taste without pressure to eat it, knowing they will learn to like it in their own time

ƒ When learning to eat a range of foods, a new food to a child is something that looks different and that is a different texture to another food. For example, a carrot that is raw in sticks seems like a different food to a child when it is raw and grated as well as when it is steamed or stir fried in different shapes as all these different variations are a different eating experiences

ƒ Vegetables are one of the most difficult food textures to eat as the tough fibres need good jaw strength to grind them down into small pieces to eat. After the age of 3 is when many kids physically have this good jaw strength helping them eat their vegetables better, that is when they are not tired at the end of a hard day of play or school.

There was a time where we all used to grow our own food or at least some of it, so we have lost a lot of food knowledge, love, care, and also control over what is in our food. Today we can make a whole meal without even touching a vegetable; just open up a packet and whack it in.

Instead of focussing on whether it is low carb or the amount of kilojoules in our food, we need to focus on learning about where our food comes from, who grows it, how does it grow, what does the plant look like from a seedling and how do you know when to harvest, prepare, cook and preserve a bumper crop. That way we will place a higher value on it than something that came in a plastic package that does not even resemble a whole food.

ƒ Go to your local green grocer or farmer’s market and hand pick your fresh produce. Feel the texture and smell all the wonderful aromas and really connect with your food

ƒ Visit a local farm, pick up some produce off the side of the road, do a tours or pick your own session. With the Harvest Festival coming up there are plenty of opportunities to get to know your food and local farmers

ƒ Start gardening to increase your availability of vegetables. It also reduces the cost as well as wastage. Easy to grow vegetables are shallots, leek, lettuce, silverbeet, spinach, beetroot, beans including snow peas and sugar snap peas, capsicum, rocket and radishes.

ƒ Check out your local community Garden for some inspiration

ƒ Visit a produce swap. They run once a month at Long Jetty, Matcham Holgate, Woy Woy and SWAMP (Wyong). Swapping items can include seeds, plants or cuttings, home–made preserves, empty jars, egg cartons, baskets, coffee grounds from a local café and gardening tools

ƒ Join Permaculture Central Coast, a volunteer–run community group. They meet monthly at various community gardens With guest speaker talks including raffle prizes, a swap table, seed bank, farm and garden tours, permablitzes and the Central Coast Edible Garden Trail, these will help and inspire you to learn how to grow your own food.

Carin Clegg is the Director of Bright Diets and is a Paediatric Dietitian and Fitness Professional with an interest in environmental sustainability. Carin wants everyone to be clever about their eating to feel happy, healthy and vibrant! Contact Carin on 0407 492 278 or via www.brightdiets.com.au