The easiest place to affect our health
is through our eating habits; in fact it’s the most effective
solution to better health, sharing the spotlight with exercise.
What about our food intake? What choices do we have to make eating
a healthier occurrence?
Vegetables are a great place to
start. There are so many choices in the filed of vegetables, being
picky isn’t even a problem here. It does not matter where
your location, the time of the year, or the method of preparation,
there are vegetables to suit the most discriminating taste
As a teen, most of us don’t
even care if we’re eating right, or begin to understand the
implications of poor eating habits. As we age, however, we do begin
to notice the effects of improper exercise, poor eating habits,
and how they affect our health. Today, as the baby boomers begin
their retirement years, health concerns and questions are on the
rise. These aging boomers are more concerned than any previous generations
about their good health, their ability to keep their good health,
and how their diet affects their health.
The choices in vegetables run the
gamut in color preference, leafy versus bean, fresh and raw, or
freshly picked and cooked. There are vegetables high in beta-carotene,
high in flavonoids, anti-oxidants, or just plain high in flavor.
What about as a snack? Do vegetables
meet the snack requirement for taste? We already know that vegetables
are good for us, but if we’re going to snack, we want something
that tastes really good.
There are vegetables that fill that
bill, quite successfully. What about celery? Celery with pimento
or peanut butter is quite delicious. Or, you have the broccoli and
cauliflower combination with ranch dip. That’s a snack that
any other snack would be hard pressed to surpass.
Then you have the dill pickle. This
is such a successful snack that manufacturer’s put it in little
plastic bags with juice and sell it. The dill pickle can be found
in convenience stores everywhere. Past the pickle, you have carrots,
sweet potatoes, and onions. These wonderful vegetables can be fixed
in so many different ways to snack on, that it would take several
papers to touch on all the possibilities.
One of a southerner’s favorite
snacks would be baked sweet potato. Now, this is normally consumed
with large amounts of butter, but doesn’t have to be, in order
to be good. The baked sweet potato can simply be peeled and eaten
straight from the oven and it’s still delicious.
Onions can be fried whole as blooming
onions, or cut into rings, battered, and served with dip as a snack
or appetizer. Many restaurants carry them as a staple on their menus.
Jalapeno peppers are often stuffed with cheese and served in this
way.
Then you have the little carrot.
This wonderful little finger food is full of beta-carotene, flavonoids,
and anti-oxidants that make it one of the most healthful snacks
we can consume.
You should have enough options now
for snacking, that healthful snacking can become a standard, not
an exception for you. These ideas do not by any means encompass
all vegetable options; these are just simply the most popular local
favorites if you live in the South and in Alabama.
Vegetables: The Healthier Snack:
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