Once patients understand the above health benefits, they will want to toss their BBQ chip and potato mania consumption to the curb and replace them with healthy vegetables and fruits. Helpful tips to share with patients to increase vegetables and fruits in the diet include (14, 15, 16):
Choose a great variety of foods while exploring the produce aisle.
Shred carrots, zucchini, or other veggies and place them in casseroles, sauces, or muffins.
Puree fruits to make sauces for poultry or fish.
Add fruit to cereals.
Prepare "veggie-heavy" meals such as stir fry and salads.
Freeze fruit for a cool treat.
Keep bowls of fresh fruit out on the table and cut vegetables in advance for easy accessibility.
Substitute crunchy vegetables for chips.
It may be trickier for some patients. Remember the previously mentioned fact about potatoes? Many patients in the Midwest are used to a "meat and potato" diet, which may make transition to a vegetable-rich diet difficult. I find it difficult to even convince some patients that potatoes do not count as a vegetable. A reasonable and simple starting goal for such patients is to add one vegetable that they like to their meal, with a goal to eventually make half of the plate at mealtimes vegetables and fruits. Emphasizing what patients should eat more of is often easier to achieve than telling them what they should restrict.
Another tricky population is children, who are notoriously opposed to eating vegetables. According to food scientist and author Brian Wansink, children can be encouraged to eat more vegetables with some "tricks" of our own. In the studies found in his book "Mindless Eating, Why We Eat More Than We Think," it was noted that children ate more vegetables when benefits were explained. For example, "carrots will help you see better." "Spinach will make you strong like Popeye." "Fish will make you smarter." One interesting study found that broccoli was very popular at a specific school where one of the mothers told her children that they needed to act "like a brontosaurus" and eat "dinosaur trees." Children may also be persuaded more easily with fun names. For example, Dr. Wansink recommends changing peas to "power peas" and V8 into a "Rainforest smoothie." Another expert in the field of childhood nutrition is Dr. David Ludwig. In his book "Ending the Food Fight," Dr. Ludwig not only emphasizes how to get children to eat more fruits and vegetables, but also how to help children with a healthier diet in general (17). Click here to view his book's website.
However we manage to do it, we must work with our patients to encourage them to incorporate more vegetables and fruits into their diet so they may profit from the outstanding health benefits these foods provide.