Healthy diet has never been easier
GETTING the daily amount of fruits and veggies into your diet can sometimes feel like an impossible feat, but munching on seasonal foods can make it easier.
Dietitian Lorinda Stutterd said spring was the ideal time to lock down healthy eating habits.
“We are entering the months of spring bringing an abundance of seasonal fruits and vegetables to our market shelves,” she said.
“Typically seasonal produce is better for our health considering it’s usually fresher when locally sourced rather than imported products.
“These non-seasonal foods are harvested before their peak ripening, require additional food miles and time to reach our shores resulting in loss of nutrients and often taste. Eating with the seasons is nature’s way to ensure we are getting the variety of nutrients we need all throughout the year.”
She said anyone craving fruits and veggies that were out of season could turn to frozen food.
“Frozen fruit and veggies have the same great nutritional value and sometimes even better than the fresh options on display,” she said.
“This is thanks to being snap frozen at the time of picking and locking in those good nutrients that are sometimes lost as the fresh options age.”
She said it was more important now than ever for Far Northerners to embrace fruits and vegetables in their diets.
“Sadly only 7 per cent of Australians actually meet the recommended five serves of vegetables and 50 per cent the two serves of fruit per day,” she said.
“Research shows regular intake of fruits and vegetables lowers our risk of obesity, type 2 diabetes, stroke, heart disease, some cancers, and high blood pressure.”