Colorful vegetables, it turns out you can eat them like this

Do you know the "Balanced Diet Plate for Chinese Residents (2022)"?

From the plate diagram, we can see that nearly half of each meal is vegetables. And our intake is different in different age groups. According to the recommendations of the Chinese Nutrition Society's "Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents (2022)", under normal circumstances, adults should consume about 500 grams of vegetables per day, 100-200 grams per day for 2-3 years old, 150-300 grams per day for 4-5 years old, 300 grams per day for 6-10 years old, 400-450 grams per day for 11-13 years old, and 450-500 grams per day for 14-17 years old.

The reason why we need to eat so many vegetables every day is mainly because vegetables are rich in vitamins, minerals and dietary fiber, which can not only help us take in a variety of micronutrients, but also ensure the normal function of our intestines and play an important role in reducing the risk of chronic diseases.

Since vegetables are so nutritious and play an important role in our health, do you know what vegetables we have in our daily lives?

(1) Leafy vegetables are the most common and most commonly eaten vegetables. The main edible part is the leaves or petioles of the plants. Common ones include Chinese cabbage, Chinese cabbage, spinach, pakchoi, baby cabbage, lettuce, kale, amaranth, shepherd's purse, water spinach, chrysanthemum, Chinese cabbage, cabbage, and lettuce.

(2) Root vegetables contain more starch and can generally be used as a staple food. The edible part is the root or stem of the plant. Common ones include carrots, white radishes, green radishes, yams, potatoes, taro, sweet potatoes, lotus roots, lettuce, kohlrabi, ginger, garlic, onions, etc.

(3) Fruit vegetables or melons contain a lot of water, and the edible part is the mature or unripe fruit of the plant. Common ones include tomatoes, cucumbers, winter melons, zucchini, eggplants, pumpkins, eggplants, bitter melons, various types of peppers, green beans, peas, snow peas, lentils and other fresh beans, fresh corn, etc.

(4) Flower and sprout vegetables: the main edible part of the plant is the flower or tender sprout. Common ones include bean sprouts, bean sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, day lily, etc.

(5) Fungal and algal vegetables, such as kelp, laver, black fungus, mushrooms, and hair algae, are often classified as vegetables.

Now that we know the daily vegetable intake of people of different ages and the classification of different vegetables, how should we increase the intake of vegetables in our diet?

(1) Appropriately increase the amount of vegetables in breakfast. In traditional Chinese diet, the intake of vegetables for breakfast is relatively small or almost non-existent. In fact, we can cleverly add some vegetables, such as adding carrots, sweet potatoes, etc. to porridge, and make steamed buns with vegetables or meat and vegetables. If you like Western-style breakfast, you can appropriately increase the amount of lettuce, cucumber, and tomato.

(2) Pairing with meat dishes. Vegetables do not have to be cooked alone. We can also add them to meat dishes, such as chicken and rapeseed, mushroom and meat slices, stir-fried water spinach with meat, minced cowpea and meat, yam and colorful shrimp, and beef brisket stewed with tomatoes. We can also add vegetables to soups, such as potato meatball soup, pork liver and spinach soup, amaranth fish ball soup, loofah and tofu soup, oyster and kelp soup, spinach and fish fillet soup, pork bone and winter melon soup, chicken hair vegetable and potato soup, etc.

(3) If children do not like to eat vegetables, parents should pay attention and adjust strategies in time.

During pregnancy and breastfeeding, pregnant mothers should pay attention to increasing food diversity, especially vegetable intake, because the vegetable intake of pregnant and breastfeeding mothers can affect the baby's taste to a certain extent, and when the baby adds complementary food later, the baby can better accept the vegetables eaten by the pregnant and breastfeeding mother, which will give the child a "familiar" taste.

Try vegetables in small amounts multiple times, and don’t give up just because they don’t want to eat them once. Each time you add new vegetables, you can let your child get familiar with them slowly, add small amounts, and use tools to process the vegetables into cute shapes, or use plates to arrange them into animal shapes.

· When paired with meat dishes and soups, meat dishes taste better than vegetables, which is why most children like meat. It can be made into vegetable omelets, vegetable wontons, vegetable meatballs, vegetable fish balls, vegetable biscuits, vegetable cakes, etc.

· Give more encouragement, but don’t force it. If your child really doesn’t like a certain vegetable, you can try replacing it with other similar vegetables to ensure the intake of nutrients. When your child is able to eat a new vegetable well, you can give appropriate encouragement.

References:

1. Chinese Nutrition Society. Food and health: consensus on scientific evidence. Beijing: People's Medical Publishing House, 2015.

2. Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents (2022).

3.The pictures are from the Internet.

National Nutrition Week, registered dietitians take action

Author: Niu Yang

Instructors: Cai Wei, Tang Qingya, Feng Yi

Department of Clinical Nutrition, Xinhua Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine

Project source: Shanghai Health Science Popularization Youth Talent Project (JKKPYC-2022-06)