National Nutrition Week: Try for five

This week is National Nutrition Week in Australia and we are challenging you to try for five.

National Nutrition Week: Try for five

Poor diet lacking in fruit and vegetables is one of the most common modifiable risk factors for several chronic diseases including cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes and some cancers.

Most Australians don’t eat the recommended five serves of vegetables every day. Yet, eating five serves of vegetables every day is a simple thing that we can do to help manage existing health conditions or to reduce the risk of chronic disease and lead a generally healthier life.

Fitting in five serves of vegetables each day is much easier than it sounds.

  • Focus on the vegetables you like
  • Try to choose seasonal (they’re cheaper)
  • Add vegetables to as many meals and snacks as you can
  • Aim to have half of your plate filled with vegetables at dinner time
  • Eat a rainbow – the more colours the better

One serve:

  • 1 tomato
  • 1 carrot
  • 1 cup of raw salad
  • ½ cup cooked vegetables
  • ½ a medium-sized potato
  • ½ cup of cooked/canned legumes (lentils, chick peas, baked beans)

Five serves:

  • Breakfast: ½ cup of cooked mushrooms with your eggs
  • Lunch: 1 cup of salad on your wrap or sandwich (lettuce, carrot, cucumber, tomato, beet root)
  • Afternoon tea: 1 cup of chopped carrot and celery sticks with your favourite dips
  • Dinner: ½ cup of steam broccoli and ½ of a potato

Additional resources:

5 ways with lentils | 5 ways with potatoes | Sweet potato wedges recipe | Cauliflower and bean burrito bowl

/CFA News Release. View in full here.