Let’s be real. If you were to ask anyone to tell you one thing they know they should do to be healthier, there’s a solid chance that their response would be “eat more veggies.” In general, most people know that they should eat more vegetables on a daily basis–but they don’t. Why is that? The response we’ve gotten from many of our clients is that they don’t think they like vegetables, and they don’t know what to do with them to make them taste good. What we have found after years of working with clients of our own, and hearing feedback from our CNAP graduates on what they hear from their clients is that most negative associations with vegetables are because they were either improperly prepared, or under-seasoned. So today, we wanted to provide some simple veggie hacks to help you–and your clients–eat more veggies daily.
How to prepare vegetables for maximum flavor and nutritional value
Most people who express distaste or dislike of vegetables have only had them cooked incorrectly–usually boiled to the point that they have no texture, color, or flavor left. Sometimes they are served alone, in that sad, bland state–or someone might try to rescue them with things like salt, pepper, and butter. Aside from the poor flavor and texture, overcooked mushy veggies also have almost none of their nutrients left intact. In fact, there’s probably more nutrients in the water in which they were cooked at that point! There really is no benefit to eating poorly prepared, overcooked veggies.
Instead, we recommend that people eat more vegetables raw, steamed, or lightly sautéed. Not all veggies are appropriate to eat raw (like root veggies and most cruciferous veggies), but it’s a good idea to try to incorporate some raw vegetables into your meals daily.
When you steam or lightly sauté vegetables, only do so until the vegetables brighten in color, and that the texture softens to the point that they are palatable, but still have some bite. This way you not only retain the flavor and texture, but you also retain the nutritional value of the food.
Give your vegetables variety with different seasonings
It’s time to give the tired old salt, pepper, butter seasoning combo a rest. There’s a whole world of herbs, spices, condiments, and healthy oils that all give your vegetables a different personality and flavor profile. For example, if you want to give your veggies an Asian twist, try seasoning with low-sodium tamari (a gluten-free fermented soy product like soy sauce), brown miso, umeboshi plum vinegar, dulse flakes (sea vegetable), and sesame oil. For a Mediterranean angle, try adding herbs like basil and parsley into a veggie stir fry with grapeseed oil or olive oil, and a squeeze of fresh lemon. For a Tex/Mex flavor profile, try avocado oil, cilantro and lime.
These might not be flavors that you grew up eating, so you might have to take a bit of a leap of faith–but you’re sure to find a flavor profile that helps you enjoy eating vegetables more. These herbs, spices, oils, condiments are available in health food stores and can be expensive, so we recommend buying a new one each week until you have a nice collection.
Make trying new vegetables fun!
We encourage you to make your vegetable trying experience a little more fun by adding in the element of surprise. One way to do that is to sign up for a weekly fresh, organic mixed produce delivery from a local co-op. You can preview the “menu” every week and make substitutions if you feel you want, but we recommend keeping at least one vegetable that you’re less familiar with and use this as an opportunity to experiment.
Each week, find recipes for veggie dishes (appetizers, main courses or sides) with whatever comes in that box, whether you are familiar with it or not, and whether you think you like it or not. It’s like being the star of your own episode of “Chopped” in your very own kitchen! Experiment with delicious warm and cold salads, veggie stir fry dishes, and soups with your weekly mystery ingredients.
When you eat more vegetables, the benefits are immeasurable
Consuming large amounts of fresh, organic vegetables (and fruits too) on a daily basis provides you with many of the essential vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants your body needs to heal itself, fend off bacterial and viral infections, maintain its optimal weight, and build healthy skin cells from within.
By incorporating more fresh vegetables into your daily diet, you are also increasing hydration, and reducing the amount of acid in your body, which in turn will help reduce the inflammation in your body. This can also help reduce acne breakouts, as well as rosacea, eczema, and psoriasis flare-ups. The nutrients you get from these plant foods are more bioavailable than those you would get from supplements as well, meaning they are more easily absorbed and utilized by the body. If you get the majority of your nutrients from food sources, you spend less money on expensive supplements.
Change it up
We all get stuck in food ruts from time to time, where we feel like we are cooking and eating the same types of foods all the time. This happens for many reasons: convenience, comfort level, cooking ability, tradition, etc.; but it is not healthy to keep eating the same things all the time.
Eating should be a fun and even adventurous experience for you and for your clients. They say “variety is the spice of life” for a reason! So find new ways to eat more vegetables!
Do you want to learn more ways to help your clients implement healthy skin lifestyle changes?
Check out our Certified Nutritional Aesthetics Practitioner® Training Program! This interactive, virtual 9-month program is designed to teach aestheticians, health coaches, and other skin wellness pros to help their clients achieve optimal skin results with an integrative approach. Helping clients implement healthy changes is a huge focus of what we teach!