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Chef Tim Says...

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Dr. Tim Says....

How to Eat More Fruit

a single pear casting a shadow on a white ground

For those of you who follow Dr. Gourmet faithfully, you know how much I think of eating fruit. Of course, it's really healthy and for sweet snackers it makes the perfect treat. Adding servings each day to your diet can have a profound effect on both short and long term health. Study after study proves this.

That said, I was chatting with a colleague recently and the topic of how to increase fruit consumption came up. We were discussing strategies to get folks to eat more and he asked me to come up with some ideas for a project that he's working on.

It got me to thinking that this wasn't something that I had considered. I have said "eat more fruit" and posted portion sizes. In more than one column I've discussed having fruit for snacks, but I haven't really talked about ways for you to do that. Simple strategies for you to eat more without thinking too much about it.

Below are ideas divided into categories. I'd love to hear your ideas either in the comments section below or on the Dr. Gourmet Facebook page.

Breakfast

  • Fruit with breakfast in addition to cereal or yogurt.
  • Mix fruit into plain, nonfat yogurt instead of purchasing custard or fruit on the bottom style yogurts.
  • Blend a banana and orange for a quick delicious smoothie.

Snacks

  • Have fruit for a mid-morning snack.
  • Have fruit after exercise to help you recover.
  • Have fruit for a mid-afternoon snack.
  • Have berries in the evening with a spray of canned real whipped cream for a treat.
  • Carry raisins in your backpack or purse.
  • Keep dried fruit on hand like apricots or dried plums.
  • Keep white grapes in the freezer for a quick treat.
  • Purchase fruit based trail mix and keep it on hand for a quick snack.
  • Buy apples and oranges in the 5 pound bag and they'll keep them in the refrigerator and always be waiting for you.

Lunch

  • Always include fruit with your lunch as a treat.
  • Have oranges, grapefruit slices or berries on your salad.

Treats

  • If you are going to treat yourself to ice cream or frozen yogurt, have fruit on top instead of candies.
  • Berries with a tablespoon of chocolate sauce are delicious.
  • Frozen fruit can be a good choice: have some on your frozen yogurt.

Purchasing

  • Purchase fruit once a week that keeps well like apples, pears and oranges.
  • Purchase more perishable fruit when you make mid-week trips to the store.

Increasing fruit consumption has been clearly linked to reduced blood pressure, better control of diabetes and increase in vitamins and antioxidants in your blood stream. They have vitamins, minerals, fiber, antioxidants and best of all are sweet and delicious.