The Super Powers of Veg: Foodwatch Guides

By Catherine Saxelby

Vegetables are the elixir of life. You DO really need to eat them to stay healthy and help you age well. For very few kilojoules (calories), vegetables are the richest source of fibre, vitamins - such as vitamin C, minerals - such as potassium and phyto-chemicals - such as antioxidants and polyphenols.

The Super Powers of Veg will teach you the 5 plus 2 rule; the size of a serve of vegetables (how much you have to eat); how to eat by the rainbow; vegetable tips for adults and children; and answers to those curly questions such as should you buy organic? This book shows you how to get in MORE at breakfast, lunch and in-betweens.

Vegetables are an enhancement and a completion to any meal. Their colours balance the browns of meats and whites of chicken and fish. Their taste adds a piquancy and interest to the proteins on your plate. Not to mention that nutritionally they are vital to your health and well-being. The Super Powers of Veg gives you balance, completeness and good health.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Foodwatch
• Release date: Oct 1, 2021
• ISBN: 9780987552105

Catherine Saxelby

Catherine Saxelby B Sc, Grad Dip Nutr Dietetics, APD, AN is Sydney-based culinary nutritionist and award-winning author of 12 books. She has contributed to many magazines such as Healthy Food Guide, Prevention and New Idea, and has appeared on TV programs including Good Morning Australia and Today. She runs an informational website at www.foodwatch.com.au where she shares her discoveries about nutrition, diets and additives. Connect with Catherine on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and Pinterest.

Book preview

Thought for the book

Go vegetable heavy. Reverse the psychology of your plate by making meat the side dish and vegetables the main course.

Bobby Flay, American celebrity chef, restaurateur and reality television personality

About the author

Catherine Saxelby

Catherine Saxelby, B Sc, APD, AN, MAIFST, is one of Australia’s most trusted award-winning nutritionists and food commentators.

A voice of reason in a space full of food fads, extreme diets and ‘super’ foods, Catherine contributes to magazines such as Healthy Food Guide, Prevention and New Idea, as well as appearing on TV programs including Good Morning Australia and Today.

She is the author of 13 books including the classic Nutrition for Life (first published in 1986) and the Food and Nutrition Companion (Hardie Grant). Over a long and varied career in the food and health sphere, she has worked as a hospital dietitian, community health nutritionist, product manager in the food industry, author, educator, freelance journalist and presenter. She is also mum to Guy and Georgia.

Catherine shares her latest findings about nutrition, diets and food trends, and connects with her community, on her website, Foodwatch. To find out more, visit https://foodwatch.com.au.

Food kilojoules and calories

All figures in this book are given in kilojoules, the metric unit of energy measurement, as well as in calories. With food, one calorie equals 4.186 kilojoules (4.2, or simply 4, is close enough for a quick conversion). For example, a slice of bread supplies 290 kilojoules or (290 divided by 4) approximately 70 calories. Please note that calories are used here with a lowercase c. I understand that calories with a capital c denotes 1,000 calories or 1 kilocalorie (or Calorie).

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References

All research references cited and websites can be found at the end of this book. They are grouped into broad areas such as vegetables and nutrient-density, vegetables and happiness, vegetables and decreasing risk, vegetables and types, etc.

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Acknowledgement of country

Foodwatch acknowledges Australia’s First Nations Peoples – the First Australians – as the Traditional Owners and Custodians of this land and gives respect to their Elders – past, present and emerging – and through them to all Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Contents

Dedication

Thought for the book

About the author

Contents

Introduction from Catherine

What’s in it for me? The benefits of eating more vegetables.

The top 10 key nutrients

Vegetables and mood

What’s a serve?

Vegetable matters FAQ

Storing veg right

Cooking veg right

Easy tips for veg-packed dinners

How to get a meat-lover to eat more veg

All-day veg

7 ways to trick your taste buds into loving vegetables

15 easy ideas to entice kids to eat their vegetables

20 easy ways to eat more vegetables – without going vegan

Conversions

Appendix 1  Veg hit parade

Origin of the word vegetable

Origin of the word legume

Acknowledgements

Introduction from Catherine

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H

ello and welcome. If you’ve just bought this book and are now reading it for the first time, thank you. Get ready for a great read.

Of course, you don’t need me to tell you that vegetables are fantastic for your health. Study after study reveals that those of us who are big vegetable eaters are protected from certain cancers, have a reduced risk of heart disease and diabetes, and experience less trouble managing our weight. Plus, we’re happier too!

Although they contribute only a tiny percentage of your daily kilojoules or calories, vegetables boast the lion’s share of nutrients, being rich in vitamin C, folate (a B vitamin), vitamin K, potassium, magnesium, various trace minerals, plus fibre.

Let’s not also forget those interesting yet under-studied compounds, such as the sulphur compounds known as isothiocyanates found in cabbage, cauli and other Brassicas, not to mention the allicins of the onion family and other Alliums such as chives, leeks and garlic.

I’m sure you get tired of hearing nutritionists like me telling you to eat more vegetables, but the truth is that most people – despite their best intentions – don’t come anywhere close to the recommended five servings of vegetables every day. Depressing but true! Look at these woeful stats from an Australian survey, which is echoed around the globe:

Only a tiny 6 per cent of adults actually eat the recommended 5 serves of vegetables a day.

We do better for fruit – over 50 per cent of people reach the goal of eating 2 serves a day.

For the average teenager, it’s even more depressing. He or she eats fewer than two servings of vegetables per day – and one of these is usually hot chips or fries. This is one of the main reasons I wrote this book and I have a big section on how to get kids to eat veg, as I know it all starts young.

Once they’re adults, most kids revert to how they were fed when they were young, so even though as a parent you may not see it at the time, it does pay off later in life.

And don’t forget – eat the rainbow! Variety and colour matter.

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In this book, you’ll discover:

The health benefits of eating more vegetables

How big one serve of vegetables is

Answers to those curly questions such as ‘Should I buy organic?’

Ways to make veg taste so good you’ll want to eat more

How to eat MORE veg for breakfast, lunch and snacks, rather than leaving it all for dinner.

Happy reading.

Catherine

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What’s in it for me? The benefits of eating more vegetables.

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ow many times have you been told that you should eat more vegetables?