Photo courtesy of Vescovi Catering taken By NB Images

Yesterday I told you about starting my new year off TODAY, by making healthier choices.  Today’s choice is an addition to my diet.

I’m going to try to eat more fruits and veggies. I’m not saying I will become a vegetarian, or go all out and never have fries again.

Why don’t you join me? Start today.

Try to add one or two fruits or veggies a day more than your normal consumption. Add an apple instead of fries with your sandwich. Eat carrots and celery as a snack instead of chips.  You consciously make those choices.

The recommendation was generalized as 5 a day. (more matters) I loved the five a day the color way. It was a quick and easy way to make sure you got the right amount and the right variety of nutrients. Each color grouping of foods have different nutrients that they contain more of than another group. 

Raw foods have the highest concentration of the nutrients that you need. When you cook foods, you lose important things like nutrients, but also many enzymes are lost. Next would be frozen, then canned. Food is cooked at super high temps when canned. But a can of mixed fruit in its own juice, not syrup, is still WAY better for you than the snickers, and it really satisfies!

Raw has other benefits. They are a good source of pre-packaged snacks. Apples, bananas, celery, carrots, and grapes are all really portable ready to eat snacks. If you opt to eat your broccoli and cauliflower raw at dinner, then there are no pans to clean!