Three delicious and alternative ways of getting your five-a-day

The five-a-day is in reference to five portions of fruit and vegetables every single day, which health and fitness experts have deemed as the minimum amount of fruit and vegetable portions to be consumed in order to maximise the health benefits associated with these foods.

Fresh fruits and vegetables are notoriously healthy as they are packed full of natural goodness including vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, as well as numerous other nutrients that all work in conjunction with one another to make the human body as fit and as healthy as possible.

When you actually think about it however, consuming the minimum daily amounts of these foods is much easier said than done as the portions are not small.

If you’re looking to maximise your nutrient consumption but are overwhelmed by the size of the portions, here are some delicious and alternative ways of getting your five-a-day.

Curry bases

If you enjoy curries, stews, and other foods which require a few spices to help improve their flavour but don’t like the prospect of adding too many whole vegetables to the dish there are ways around it.

Take a pan, fill it with water and bring to a boil. Next, add as many peeled and roughly chopped onions, carrots, tomatoes, peppers, chillies, pieces of squash, and pieces of baby corn as you like.

Add a few garlic cloves, some pieces of ginger, salt, pepper, and garam masala. Bring to a boil and simmer for around one hour, and then blend to a liquid. You now essentially have a spicy vegetable soup known as a curry base.

Next, when you make a curry, to increase the nutritional value instead of using water for the liquid, use your curry base instead.

Add a few diced veggies to the dish, and you have at least two of your five a day right there.

Purchase a juicer

Ever since the smash-hit documentary 'Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead' the world has gone juice mad, and for good reason too.

Juicing whole fruits and vegetables is a great way of maximising your nutrient consumption as you can pack far more fruits and veggies into one juice than if you were to try to eat them whole.

A juicer separates the fiber from the foods leaving you with the juice, which contains all of the goodness and nutrients.

One juice alone has the potential of providing all five of your five-a-day and they taste great as well.

Make sure you use more vegetables than fruits, however, as fruit juices still contain natural sugars.

Bulk up stir fries and other dishes with diced veggies

Another great way of getting plenty of veggies inside of you is to finely dice your vegetables before adding them to dishes.

Dicing them into small pieces means you can fit more in, and if you’re not keen on large chunks you won’t even notice they’re there.

Bulking out dishes with diced vegetables also makes the dish go further, so you use less fatty foods, meats, and oils as a result.

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