How to eat more vegetables

According to the Australian Dietary Guidelines, adults should eat about 5 serves of vegetables for good health (1). However, only 7.5% of the adult population manage to meet their recommended target (2). Part of the problem is that some people don’t like vegetables, but it’s also true that many people don’t know how to eat more vegetables.

How many serves of vegetables

For most of the population from the age of 9, the recommended number of serves is around 5 serves per day. This varies based on gender (males need more) and life stage (pregnant and lactating women need more). Likewise, more active individuals, such as athletes, need more. The tables below show the recommended serves of vegetables for adults and children broken down by population group (data from 1).

What is a serve

A standard serve of vegetables for the purposes of the guidelines is about 75g or:

• ½ cup cooked vegetables, including legumes (beans, peas, lentils) and corn
• 1 cup green leafy or raw salad vegetables
• ½ medium potato or other starchy vegetables (sweet potato, taro or cassava)
• 1 medium tomato (2)

Note that sedentary and moderately active individuals should eat at least twice as much non-starchy vegetables than starchy ones. This is especially important for people with metabolic conditions such as insulin resistance, diabetes, PCOS, overweight and obesity.

Also, even though avocados and tomatoes are fruits they count toward your vegetable intake. The same goes for legumes such as beas, peas, lentils and chickpeas and corn, which is technically a grain.

How to eat more vegetables

Let’s say this is what you eat in a given day:

Meal	Food	Vegetable serves
Breakfast	2 Weetbix + 200 ml milk
Morning tea	Flat white + banana
Lunch	Chicken & salad sandwich
Afternoon tea	Cup of tea + 2 Tim Tams
Dinner	Spaghetti bolognese

That’s a grand total of 1.5 serves of veg for the day. How can you workshop this?

General tips

• Buy vegetables in season as they are at the peak of freshness and nutritional value, and also cheaper
• Subscribe to a farm-fresh mixed vegetable box
• Frozen vegetables are fine, some canned vegetables/legumes are fine (mainly beans, lentils, chickpeas and corn)

Breakfast

• Eat a savoury breakfast. Egg-based breakfasts are particularly good for adding vegetables such as tomatoes (raw or grilled), leafy greens, sautéed mushrooms, etc. Other options are avocado toast, baked beans and vegan bowls.
• Add vegetables to your morning smoothie, e.g. baby spinach or kale, avocado
• If you have a good juicer or Nutribullet, make a vegetable juice (with optional fruit). Vegetables that work well in juices are carrots, beetroot, celery and dark leafy greens.
• Eat leftovers for breakfast

Morning and afternoon tea

• Eat a vegetable-based dip (e.g. hummus or guacamole) with vegetable sticks or slices (carrots, celery, cucumber, radishes, etc.)
• Instead of banana bread or other sweet baked good, choose a savoury muffin or frittata slice with vegetables
• Eat rice cakes or wholemeal/multigrain toast with avocado

Lunch

• Because it’s hard to stuff enough vegetables in a sandwich, add a side salad or vegetable soup to your sandwich
• Eat a salad with some protein
• Eat leftovers from dinner
• If you buy your lunch, choose an option with vegetables and protein such as:
  • Supermarket: roast chicken + salad, salad bowl + can of tuna
  • Takeaway: stir-fry with vegetables and protein, kebab/gyro meat with salad, poke bowl with half or no rice and plenty of vegetables
  • Pub: steak/grilled fish with salad (no chips) or mash and steamed vegetables

Dinner

• If you are eating a piece of meat or fish, eat it with steamed/roasted vegetables and/or salad
• Add vegetables (e.g. spinach, kale, grated zucchini, grated carrot, sliced mushrooms) and/or legumes (e.g. lentils, beans, chickpeas) to your pasta, stew, curry or soup
• Make a stir-fry with vegetables and protein and basmati rice

Sample meals

Meal	Food	Vegetable serves
Breakfast	Smoothie (milk + 1 1/2 cup baby spinach + 1/2 banana + 1/2 cup frozen blueberries)
Breakfast	Omelette made with 2 eggs + 1 medium tomato + 1 cup sautéed mushrooms + toast
Breakfast	Avocado toast (made with 1/2 avocado) topped with 1 sliced medium tomato and 2 poached eggs
Morning tea	Flat white + savoury muffin with vegetables
Morning tea	Flat white + 2 rice cakes with 1 small avocado
Lunch	Ham & cheese sandwich + 1 cup garden salad
Lunch	Ham & cheese sandwich + 1 cup pumpkin soup
Lunch	2 cups garden salad with avocado and tuna
Afternon tea	Cup of tea + 1/3 cup hummus + 1 carrot cut into sticks
Dinner	Spaghetti bolognese with vegetables
Dinner	Stir-fry with chicken and vegetables + basmati rice
Dinner	Steak + 2 cups roasted vegetables (potato, sweet potato, pumpkin, carrot, broccoli)
Dinner	Roast chicken + 2 cups steamed frozen vegetables (broccoli, carrot, corn)

Also make sure to check out my recipes for more inspiration.

References

1. National Health and Medical Research Council. Australian Dietary Guidelines. Canberra: National Health and Medical Research Council; 2013.
2. Australian Bureau of Statistics. Table 12.3 Consumption of fruit, vegetables, and sugar sweetened and diet drinks – Australia, Proportion of persons [Internet]. 2018 [cited 2020 Dec 30]. Available from: https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/health/health-conditions-and-risks/national-health-survey-first-results/2017-18/4364055001do012_20172018.xls

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