The Five Food Groups Pt.1 – Vegetables & Legumes / Beans

Hey Fitfam Foodies! 

This is me tryna do a 5part series on Food Groups! 

Hopefully I will pull through, lol!

So , so, so...

The key to eating well is to enjoy a variety of nutritious foods from each of the Five Food Groups.

These Five Food Groups will make up a Guide to Healthy Eating. Please note this does not necessarily mean the “CLASSES OF FOOD” however quite similar.

Foods are grouped together because they provide similar amounts of the key nutrients of that food group.  

For example, the key nutrients of the milk, yogurt, and alternatives food group include calcium and protein, while the fruit group is an excellent source of vitamins, especially vitamin C.

To meet the nutrient requirements essential for good health, you need to eat a variety from each of the five food groups daily, in recommended amounts.  

It is not necessary to eat from each food group at every meal. In fact, in some instances, you only need to eat some of the foods in each food group a couple of times a week

In this post we will look significantly at Vegetable and Legumes / Beans.

By eating vegetables, especially colorful vegetables, there is a reduced risk of stroke and weight gain.

Vegetables, including legumes/beans are nutrient dense and are a good source of minerals, vitamins (such as magnesium, vitamin C and folate) and dietary fibre.

Vegetables come from many different parts of the plant, including the leaves, roots, tubers, flowers, stems, seeds and shoots. 

Legumes are the seeds of the plant and are eaten in their immature form as green peas and beans, and the mature form as dried peas, beans, lentils and chickpeas. 

Vegetables can be broken up into different groups, with each group providing their own unique nutrients.

The main sub-groups for vegetables are:

Dark green or cruciferous

• Broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbages, cauliflower, kale
• Lettuce, spinach

Root/tubular/bulb vegetables

• Potato, cassava, sweet potato, carrots, beetroot, onions, garlic, bamboo shoots, turnip

Legumes/beans

• Red kidney beans, soybeans, chickpeas, lentils, tofu

Each day it is important to eat a variety of different types of vegetables from each of the main vegetable groups.  This will ensure you are eating a colorful range and variety of vegetables which will provide you with many of the health promoting benefits. 

Starchy vegetables such as sweet potato, taro, cassava or sweet corn should form only part of your daily vegetable intake.

It can be hard work trying to eat the number of recommended serves of vegetables per day.  However, you can do almost anything with vegetables!  

Eat them raw, grate them, slice them, stir fry, steam or boil them and bake them.  Mix them together and add herbs, spices and other low salt flavorings... the options are endless.

It is also easy to slip veggies into other mixed dishes, especially if you are trying to increase your daily intake

Vegetables can be used fresh, frozen, canned or dried varieties.

However, if using canned varieties, avoid those with added salt.

Hope I didn't bore you with this post?! But this is part of what eating healthy entails. *winks*

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