Eating a Vegetarian Diet. Not As Healthy As You May Believe.

You hear vegetarian and what comes to mind? A nutritious, disease preventing, high fiber diet? Wholesome meals full of whole grains, nuts and seeds, fruits and vegetables, chock full of vitamins and minerals? Slim and fit individuals living a healthy lifestyle, carefully meeting their nutritional needs?

If only it were so! Perhaps in its ideal form this diet is filled with all the protein, healthy fats and unprocessed carbohydrate you might need to stay healthy. It also provides a full range of antioxidants, including flavonoids, found in color-rich fruits and vegetables, as well as in nuts. These compounds are linked with prevention of many cancers, heart disease and aging related conditions. And if you include three low fat dairy servings per day, the model vegetarian diet satisfies the DASH diet for hypertension. This fruit and vegetable filled diet, together with the mineral-rich low fat dairy has been shown in studies to significantly improve blood pressure as effectively as medication.

But in practice, that’s just not how it is. Twenty-five years of counseling clients has shown me how real people live as vegetarians. And it’s not pretty. Here’s a look at what really happens to many vegetarians. Check out these pitfalls to healthy vegetarianism to be sure to avoid.

Vegetarians may set too many unnecessary rules.

Instead of eating the healthy diet described above, they may limit their fats, failing to meet their needs for essential fatty acids. Reduced fat soy milk or lower fat avocado—are they really necessary? Why choose such items?

Being fat phobic, they may omit valuable food sources such as nuts and nut butters, such as peanut butter and almond butter, eggs and even avocado. As a result of this extra layer of rules, it may be challenging to maintain their weight in a healthy range. With their limited selection, they also exclude valuable sources of protein-rich foods.

These vegetarians typically are not yet diagnosable as eating disordered. For them, vegetarianism is simply another way to limit their intake in a socially acceptable way. Vegetarianism is healthy, right?

They have no interest in exploring unfamiliar vegetarian food choices.

And so they limit their intake to vegetarian meals such as pasta, grilled cheese, and pizza, for instance. Now don’t get me wrong. There’s no problem with including these foods, as part of a balanced diet. But vegetarian choices tend to be limited, particularly when eating out. And if you don’t include much variety, the calorie density of your diet can become quite high. This becomes more exaggerated when you don’t care for many fruits and vegetables. And so your entrée portion needs to be larger to feel satisfied. Typically, these individuals end up gaining weight unexpectedly, in spite of their good intentions to eat a “healthy” vegetarian diet. As a result, they are left with a less than balanced diet and are struggling with their weight.

They are cooking challenged or have little time for food preparation.

As a result, they rely on mostly processed foods, generally quite high in sodium. Take a look at the labels on the canned beans or refried beans. Explore the sodium levels of the many soy-based and Quorn brand processed vegetarian products. To achieve the equivalent of three ounces of animal protein (a deck of cards size), you’d consume approximately 1200 mgs of sodium, from this single protein alternative, in a reasonable portion. If you are choosing vegetarianism for the prevention of heart disease, you may want to rethink this choice. If you have high blood pressure, the current recommendation is for a total of 1500 mgs. per day! You’d be better off allowing for lean protein sources such as white meat poultry, or fish, for the pescetarians.

If your nutrient needs are high (if you are still growing, quite active, very tall, pregnant or nursing, or underweight), vegetarianism can be challenging.  

A healthy vegetarian diet, high in whole grains, fruits, vegetables and legumes is high volume, high fiber with low caloric-density. As a result, it can be very filling. If you are someone with a high calorie requirement (like those described above), it takes more effort to meet your needs, while still feeling physically comfortable. It is certainly achievable, but requires a higher intake of fats and a bit more planning. Otherwise, you’ll frequently feel full and have a difficult time consuming all that your body requires.

Oh no! My daughter has decided to become a vegetarian!

Mrs. Katz called me earlier this week, seemingly alarmed, given the tone of her voice on the phone. She just discovered that her daughter has been limiting her eating to vegetarian choices for the past 3 weeks. Rebecca was well known to me from more than a year of regular visits for her eating disorder. Last time I saw her, 6 weeks ago, she had been doing great. She had been maintaining her weight in a health range, without symptoms, and appeared quite relaxed and comfortable about the changes she had made. She was allowing herself a full range of foods, including items formally considered junk foods. And she achieved all this while competing on her high school swim team. For many, many, months now, I could say she had fully recovered.

Mrs. Katz had good reason to contact me. News of her daughter’s becoming vegetarian needed to be explored, to ensure it was not a slip into more eating disordered thinking and behavior.

When I met with Rebecca today, here’s what I concluded. That Mrs. Katz has no need for concern. That while a vegetarian diet could red flag unnecessary dietary restriction, for Rebecca I felt assured that limiting her intake was not the goal (or likely to result from her new found vegetarian identity). Yes, she would have to be mindful to maximize her iron intake, as well as her protein, calcium and Vitamin D, nutrients which often fall short when eating vegetarian. Not being a vegan, B12 deficiency was not going to be an issue. She was eating a varied diet providing enough calories to adequately fuel her body. And her weight continued to be maintained in a healthy range for her height. So it was easy to reassure Mrs. Katz.

Just because some vegetarians may be restrictive eaters, that’s not to say that you can’t be a healthy vegetarian and successfully meet your nutritional needs.

If you’re motivated to be a healthy vegetarian consider the following:

•     A balanced vegetarian diet requires planning. Actually, you can say the same thing for balanced eating of any type. But it is easier to throw a steak on the grill than to cook rice and dry beans.
•     Take advantage of vegetarian resources. Explore the many vegetarian cookbooks and websites for easy, delicious recipes. (Check out some of my favorites on this blog—lentil stew, lentil soup, vegetarian chili and corn bread, granola to name a few. As for cookbooks, my old favorites are Mollie Katzen’s updated Moosewood and The Enchanted Broccoli Forest, as well as the Vegetarian Epicure by Anna Thomas.
•     Eating out? Consider Indian resturants, and other Asian cuisines (offering tofu based vegetable filled dishes), which typically offer a large selection of vegetarian options.
•     Cook soups, stews, and casseroles and freeze them in small batches to provide quick and convenient vegetarian meals.

Being vegetarian clearly has its merits. It makes us more mindful of where our food comes from and its impact on the environment. (For true enlightenment, check out the movie Food, Inc. with Michael Pollan or his books including The Omnivore’s Dilemma). But choosing vegetarianism means not just being morally responsible. It requires being responsible for meeting your body’s needs. And that is equally important.

Do you have a favorite vegetarian cookbook or website? Have a thought to share on this post as a vegetarian or a soon-to-be vegetarian? Please share! I’d love to hear from you.

Back to Your Roots. Simple Planning and Cooking to Keep You on Track.

I’m driving home from work. It’s 6:30 PM. And I’m hungry, very hungry. I get stuck in rush hour traffic and now I’m starving. Unless I know that the hired help will have dinner ready for me when I get home, my thoughts wander to take out. And since I don’t have hired help awaiting my return, I know I’d better have a plan in place for dinner. Because I need immediate gratification. And I won't feel good eating out too frequently, especially when I'm hungry and vulnerable.

Nutrition knowledge is great. But if the groundwork isn’t laid to prepare a meal, even to mentally prep for eating, your knowledge will get you nowhere. Yes, even nutritionists can be impulsive if they fail to plan. Cooking in advance helps enormously. Soups and stews work like a dream—they freeze and reheat well, contain lots of satisfying ingredients in one bowl, with only one pot to clean up! And they typically make enough for multiple meals, so leftovers can be enjoyed for many days.

Tonight’s dinner (mentally prepared during my lunch break) was leftover Back to Your Roots soup—a root vegetable puree that is delectable, even reheated from the freezer.  It is total comfort food, creamy and satisfying, but relatively low in saturated fat (given the number of servings it makes). Don’t let the half and half scare you. The bulk of the soup is pureed yummy veggies. The cream is a tiny morsel of this meal! And so satisfying and filling.

Tonight, I served it with a small omelet. I arrival home from work at 7 PM. Dinner? Served at 7:20 PM. And yes, it beats fast food and take-out any day of the week! I had never tried many of these vegetables yet they were a perfect combination of flavors! This is now an absolute favorite, guaranteed to please.

Back to Your Roots Soup (makes 10 generous servings)

(adapted from New England Soup Factory Cookbook by Marjorie Druker)

Ingredients

3 Tbsps. oil (olive or canola, or  butter)

3 whole cloves garlic, peeled

1 large onion, peeled and diced

2 ribs celery, diced

4 large carrots, peeled and sliced

4 parsnips, peeled and sliced

1 large turnip or rutabaga, peeled and cut in chunks

2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks

1 bulb celeriac, peeled and cut in chunks

12 cups stock (chicken, vegetable, regular or reduced sodium cartons work well). Some water can be substituted as well.

½ tsp. ground nutmeg

2 cups half and half

salt and pepper to taste (skip the salt if using regular stock versus reduced sodium)

Heat oil (or butter) over medium heat. Add garlic, onion ,celery, carrots, and parsnips. Saute about 8 minutes. Add turnip, sweet potato, celeriac, and stock.

Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium.

Simmer until vegetables are soft and tender, about 40 minutes.

Remove from heat, adding nutmeg.

Puree soup with a hand blender until smooth (those wand-like devices that save you the trouble of pouring scalding soup into the food processor).

Add the half and half and stir.

Savor every spoonful! And let me know what you think.

I have a few other soup favorites I'd be glad to share--just say the word!

Chili In a Storm.

Easy soups you can feel good about eating.


Maybe it was the two feet of snow, and rather frigid temperature leaving me housebound Monday. The result was a hearty vegetarian chili (and cornbread, of course). By today, with the temperatures balmy in the 50’s (F) you might be expecting gazpacho. But instead, a favorite, unusual, tangy, spicy winter squash and chickpea delight was prepared. And in between, were a pureed root vegetable comfort soup and my Friday tradition of chicken soup with matzah balls.

It’s hard to decide which to cover in this post, and upcoming, posts. They are each so unique, and post worthy!

Okay, I suppose I’ll start with the chili, (though not technically a soup given how thick it is) because of its great taste and nutritional value. And, it’s a great excuse to  make cornbread.

The recipe was adapted (it’s hard to not add my own touches, you realize) from an old favorite vegetarian cookbook, Moosewood, by Mollie Katzen. It’s tattered, stained, with broken spine, having been used since I was 19! Perhaps my first cookbook ever, thanks to Rebecca who gave it to me in college, with whom I’m still friends!

What’s so great about chili?

Where shall I start?

It’s quick. It’s easy. It’s cheap. High fiber. Vegetarian. Virtually no saturated fat. And did I mention it tastes good, too? And it’s quite satisfying, especially topped with some shredded cheese (and accompanied by a slice of cornbread). It also freezes well, so for those of you who are cooking for one or two, portion the leftovers into containers and serve it another day. Unlike the soups mentioned above, this recipe is more modest in size, making only 5-6 portions. Living alone? Just the two of you? It’s the perfect dish to freeze for another meal, with leftovers for lunch as well. (Thanks to RHA who requested "simple to prep, without exotic ingredients, to serve under 6 people". Sure hope you joined as a follower now!)

Chili in the Storm (serves 5-6)

Ingredients

2-3 Tbsps. oil (to sauté)

4 cloves garlic, crushed

1 ½ cups chopped onion (2 large should do it)

1 cup chopped peppers (any color)

3 cans red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 cup raw bulgur wheat

1 cup water (or more if you prefer chili less thick)

1 can tomato paste

2 cans diced tomatoes, drained

4 large carrots, cut in thick slices

4 tsps. chili powder

3 ½ tsps cumin

4 tsps. oregano

cayenne to taste (beware—hot stuff!)

3 tbsps. red wine



In a large pot, heat oil and sauté onion and garlic until translucent.

Add carrots and peppers and cook until tender.

Add all remaining ingredients, stir, and cover.
Cook about 45 mins. Add additional water if desired.

Top with goat or shredded cheese, and serve with cornbread or a few tortilla chips.

Note: Chili can be made with low salt canned tomato products and beans, as well as dry beans to dramatically reduce the sodium. I use the canned strictly for a quick and easy meal, but if you are home on a stormy day, consider cooking dried beans according to package directions (use about 2 ½ cups dry beans, cooked, for this recipe). Texturally, it’s a whole other beast—but tastes just fine without!

Enjoy!


Followers: Please email me along with your screen name for cornbread recipe!

Lemony Lentil Stew

Quick, cheap, easy to prepare, good for you, this lentil stew is a pleaser. Oh, and did I mention it tastes great too? I adapted it from Epicurious (http://www.epicurious.com) which is worth a virtual visit. Feel free to be creative and consider additional changes, including those suggested below.  

I chose not to cook this in the crock pot, because I was concerned about it turning to mush. And besides, it takes so little time (total time required is under a half hour). I cooked it Sunday night and refrigerated it. Then dinner was ready after a brief microwaving, after a long day of talking about food and eating!

Lemony Lentil Stew With Spinach and Potatoes

(serves 2-3 but can easily by doubled or tripled)

2 Tblsps. Olive oil

2 large garlic cloves, chopped

3 cups reduced sodium vegetable stock

1 cup dry lentils, uncooked, rinsed and picked over (brown give a heartier flavor, but any will work)

2 small or 1 very large red potato, skin on, cut into chunks

1 ½ lemon

7 oz baby spinach (or close to that amount)

¼ tsp cayenne pepper

¼ cup fresh mint

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp thyme

feta cheese, crumbled on top

Also consider adding:

Carrots

Zaatar (a mideastern blend of spices available in the international aisle of supermarkets or in specialty stores)

Onions

Up to 5 cups of stock if you prefer a soup versus a stew

Preparation


Heat oil in large saucepan over medium heat.

Add garlic and stir for 30 seconds.

Add vegetable broth and lentils and brink to a boil.

Reduce heat, cover, and simmer 10 minutes.

Add potatoes and cook uncovered until potatoes and lentils are tender, stirring occasionally (about 15 or so minutes, longer for yellow lentils).

Meanwhile, grate ½ tsp. lemon peel and squeeze 3 Tbsps. lemon juice (more if desired). Add to stew, along with spices and spinach.

Cover and simmer until spinach wilts and is cooked through, about 2 minutes.

Add mint and stir.

Top with feta if desired. Then season with salt and pepper.

Serve with a hearty whole grain bread. A scoop of plain yogurt could work in place of the feta, if desired.

Enjoy!

Pecan pumpkin pancakes (you can feel good about eating!)

Pancakes and weight management--An oxymoron? Think again.

Did you think you were done eating pancakes, placing them on your list of forbidden foods for managing your weight? Time to rethink that. Pancakes, especially these pancakes, really satisfy, with their lovely fluffy texture and aromatic spice mix. And you can feel good about eating them. They are low in saturated fat and even have some fiber. They're a great source of Beta carotene (vitamin A) so if you or your kids aren't crazy for vegetables they're the perfect solution. So go ahead and try them, and tell me what you think!

Perfect Pumpkin Pancakes (with or without the pecans)


Makes 22-24 pancakes 
Serves 5-7 people (depending on their appetites)

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

½ cup whole wheat flour

¼ cup ground flax seed (aka flax meal)

3 Tbsps. Brown sugar

2 tsps. Baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. allspice

1 tsp. cinnamon

½ tsp. powdered ginger

½ tsp salt

---------------------------------

1 ½ cups low fat milk (soy is an option)

1 cup canned pumpkin

1 large egg

2 Tbsps. oil

2 Tbsps. vinegar

pecans, optional

Butter, oil, or oil-spray to lightly coat the griddle or pan.

Mix all dry ingredients together (everything through ‘salt’.)

In a separate, large bowl, mix remaining ingredients—the wet stuff.

Combine the two mixtures, mixing just until the dry ingredients no longer appear.

Heat griddle, medium heat, coating lightly with butter, oil, or spray-butter. Personally, I like to use a small amount of butter—about 2 tsps. for the whole griddle, just at the start.

Once hot (a drop of water sizzling will confirm and works better than using your fingers!) add just under ¼ cup of batter to the pan for each pancake. After a few minutes (usually once pancakes begin to bubble) flip to cook the other side. The bubbling isn’t so visible on these pancakes, so give them a few minutes to start puffing up, and then flip.

Heat a mini size pitcher (see photo) with maple syrup. Microwaving for 10-15 seconds works fine. It will enhance the flavor of the syrup, and cause it to thin out, making it easy to both use just a small amount, or spill it all over your plate, if you’re not careful. 

You can double the recipe and let the leftovers cool. Then place in a ziploc bag and freeze. Microwave reheat for midweek breakfasts or afternoon snacks.

Enjoy!

Making Peace with vegetables. Therapist Not Included.

Practical, yummy guidance to boost your veggie intake.

Chewy canned mushrooms. Mushy, salty asparagus. Bland, flavorless iceberg lettuce salad, topped with cellophane wrapped barely orange-colored tomatoes. Ok, these were crisp and crunchy, as least (the salad as well as the cellophane). These are the vegetables of my childhood. To this day, accidentally biting my cheek conjures up memories of the texture of those mushrooms. And imagine my surprise when I first saw asparagus growing, standing upright, unsupported and firm, with no resemblance to the canned version of my past!

I had blocked out all memory of those vegetable experiences like a traumatic upbringing, until I was reminded that others’ experiences of vegetables were similar. My aunt Nancy recalls that she was forced to sit at the table, sometimes for hours, until she finished every last pea on her plate. And my patient, Susan, recently related her memory of vegetables being boiled and bland and abominable.

So why would we make peace with this food group? It’s got to take more than the motivation to help our future health.  You know, to prevent cancer, or to help with wound healing or to help maintain healthy nerves or cell function. So abstract! So not-important-in-the-here-and-now to me, or you, I suspect. So knowledge of their health benefit won’t motivate us, but perhaps the evidence about weight management will? (see last post). Eating vegetables (and other high fiber foods) does help us manage our weight. And when you know what to do with them, they are so enjoyable and taste wonderful. Yes, I mean wonderful! Now that’s a reason to start to eat them.

But then there are all the obstacles. Perhaps you associate eating veggies like the three of us described above. And then there’s the need to have them available before they go bad. And the confidence to prepare them in a way that’s tasty. Unless the benefits outweight the negatives, veggies just won’t make it to your plate. So here are some suggestions.

Roast a bunch of root vegetables. 

I love this in the Fall and winter! Buy ready peeled and cut, or if time allows, do your own. Carrot, parsnip, turnip, butternut squash, sweet potato and beets work really well, but feel free to pick and choose. I make a big pan of these, and then they shrink up quite a bit, getting a bit crispy around the edges. Leftovers freeze really well and can be microwave reheated.

Here’s how I do it:      

    

Roasted Root Vegetables

Preheat oven to 400. Toss the veggies in a large pan, with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil. Keep them to a single layer or the texture will be mushy, and you know I don’t want that to happen! Add about ¼ cup of warm water containing about a tablespoon of sugar diluted. Add herbs if you like—thyme and rosemary work well. Cook for about 45 minutes or longer, mixing occasionally. Don’t cover unless you like soft and wet!

Take advantage of convenience. 

Precut and washed vegetables take no time at all to deal with. They are typically available at great prices from Wholesale clubs like BJs, Costco, etc. (sorry international readers—I don’t know of the equivalent stores out your way!) Here are some simple, healthy and tasty preps: 

          

• First sauté some garlic, onion or shallots, until translucent (they become like opaque glass).  Use a heavy skillet, or non-stick pan, with a drizzle of olive oil for additional flavor. Then add reduced sodium chicken stock. Freeze the leftover stock in ice cube trays or small zip lock bags to use for next time.

            

• Or, substitute balsamic vinegar for the chicken stock. This works really well with asparagus and green beans.

            

• Steam or sauté broccoli. Then add a few shakes of rice vinegar. A drop of sesame oil will also enhance the flavor.

             

Buy frozen. 

Plain frozen vegetables are so convenient. I get the large family size bags, snip the corner and throw them in the pan as mentioned above. This works well when I run out of the fresh stuff. They could also be microwaved.

Buy prewashed baby greens for a quick salad. 

But make it taste good! Add a drizzle of a flavorful oil (roasted walnut of extra virgin olive) and a mild vinegar, such as rice or balsamic. Fresh mint or basil is divine, but even dried herbs like oregano, garlic powder and tarragon taste great. Try a drizzle of real maple syrup or honey mixed in! Then add salt and pepper to taste, if desired.

Use canned pumpkin. 

A great addition to pancakes, and quick breads (an easy substitute for any part of the liquid/wet ingredients), and there are great recipes for pumpkin (or butternut squash) soups.

Add vegetables to soups and stews, even when they are not called for. I add lots of veggies to chili—carrots, peppers, onions, and to beef stew—green beans in addition to the carrots and potato called for.

Be inspired by farmers’ markets and local produce stands, where fresh vegetables look like art and are so inviting.

So make peace with your relationship with vegetables and leave your mushy, canned goods behind. It really is hard to ruin these preparations, so don’t let the lack of precise measurements in these suggestions scare you.

Have a good recipe or an easy veggie tip? I welcome your suggestions!

Sex and Carrots and Weight Management.

One of these just doesn’t belong.

I could have saved the Carrot Grower’s industry 25 million dollars. Yup, that’s how much they spent trying to sell you “baby” carrots. I say “baby” because they aren’t. First informed of this by Marion Nestle (on her blog www.foodpolitics.com), I learned what most of you might already know. They are full-grown adult carrots, peeled and cut into “baby” size pieces. And as my searching uncovered, they are a variety that tends to be both lower in Beta-carotene (which becomes vitamin A) and in flavor. And using sex to try to sell them (http://youtube.com/watch?v=DbZHasnugts&feature=related) 

I’m quite sure will be a giant waste of money.

I need to confess that this post is not based on scientific research or studies of eaters’ happiness when eating vegetables. The only research I’ll reference is the recent study by the CDC, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, showing that vegetable consumption is down. Nationally, only 26% of adults consumed vegetables 3 or more times per day. And no state met the Healthy People 2010 Target for vegetable intake, having 50% of the population eating 3 or more servings per day (with at least one-third being dark green or orange vegetables).

And the prevalence of eating vegetables three or more times per day did not change significantly, over all age groups, in the last decade, in spite of all we know about the value of eating them.

And get this minor detail—“Participants were not given a definition of serving size” and were asked how often they ate a serving of vegetables. Hold on. Does this make any sense to you? The study was really based on how often, not how much people ate them. So if I were being surveyed about my vegetable intake here’s what they would find: No vegetables at breakfast. (Surprised? They hardly go with my pancakes or oatmeal). And I only occasionally have some small amount of vegetables on my sandwiches at lunch. So my number of servings? Only one per day. But you should see just how much vegetables I eat in that one serving! There’s always an enormous and quite tasty salad at dinner, as well as one or two cooked vegetables, in generous amounts. I’ll need to photograph to show you just how much I love my veggies, but trust me, this labeling of me as a low veggie consumer seems most ridiculous. So I’m not so sure there is really any value to this giant CDC undertaking to survey American’s food consumption.

Still, my twenty five years of speaking with clients of all ages, income and educational level have led me to a number of beliefs about why vegetable intake is lower than it should be. And what could be done about it.

Night vision, wound healing, gum health, even cancer prevention, all known benefits of eating vegetables, are hardly enough to motivate most of us to eat more veggies. Unless the cost of that change is small and there are additional benefits as well, Americans will not increase their veggies. But, the answer to getting people to eat more vegetables is to focus an ad campaign on this little fact:

Eating vegetables helps manage weight.

Really. How many wouldn’t push their intake of vegetables knowing that little secret? It seems that people go to all lengths for the sake of weight control—costly and useless supplements, diet pills, and restrictive eating that leaves us cranky and irritable. Imagine you could add something to your diet that not only helps you manage your weight, while feeling good, but prevents you from getting too hungry and feeling bad?! And, is quite good for you!

Here are just a few snippets from the articles referenced on the CDC site (http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/nutrition/pdf/rtp_practitioner_10_07.pdf):

Adding vegetables to meals enhanced the feelings of being full; ratings of fullness were linked with foods higher in fiber and water content and total weight of the meal; dietary fiber (contained in vegetables), regardless of the source, has also been linked to weight regulation. And, low-energy-dense foods promoted feelings of being full, reduced hunger, and decreased energy intake. And in long and short term studies foods described as being “low-energy –density”, a term that most certainly applies to vegetables, promoted weight loss.

I’m not suggesting using them for weight loss if you are at a normal and healthy weight! And I don’t recommend a diet of only vegetables. I just wanted to clarify that small point. But, to include them to assist with feeling full and satisfied, as well as for their many other nutritional benefits, in addition to all the other foods you eat—that I recommend.

And now that we really see a benefit we could start to break down the barriers to eating veggies. Making change, including dietary change, seems to be about the cost benefit; if the cost of changing what you do seems too high you won’t do it. And the costs of eating vegetables aren’t simply measured in dollars. No, the costs include the time it takes to shop for them, the hassle of making them, learning how to prepare them, and sitting down to eat them. And, perhaps, the energy to convince the others at the table to try them.

Check out my next post on practical strategies to lower these costs so you can enjoy all the benefits, including helping you manage your weight in a healthy range! Coming soon, I promise!