Why are vegetables more important than fruit?

How do you cook your vegetables?

Are you aware of the high sugar content in fruit? It can cause a hormonal spike.

Fibrous vegetables are the key to long term fat loss and weight management.

You have been told to eat five portions of fruit/vegetables a day and if you eat 5 portions of fruit you think you are being healthy.  There is a high sugar content in fruit which can cause a hormonal spike so you need to limit the fruit you are eating.  On my programme I ask you to avoid fruit for 14-28 days and then introduce fruit back into the diet but just control how much you are eating.  It can lead to weight gain and I have mentioned before that is one of the reasons I put on weight and also had the spare type around my middle. I ate very little veg and lots of fruit but now it is the other way around. I limit my fruit and have it as a treat.

We eat vegetables because of their high fibre. This brings about a very moderate insulin response, making them an ideal fat loss food.

Research shows that the higher fibre content of most vegetables will delay carbohydrate absorption, favourably modifying the glucose response. Dark green vegetables usually have a large antioxidant content as well (not as great as dark fruits, but still a sizeable amount).

Sweet Potatoes - A good source of protein, fibre, beta carotene, vitamin C, folate and calcium, sweet potatoes are a nutritious and tasty family food. Contrary to their name, sweet potatoes are not botanically a potato, but rather a root. Though white potatoes contain much more niacin, sweet potatoes are overall more nutritious: They are lower in carbohydrates and higher in fibre, beta carotene, folic acid, and calcium. Like potatoes, sweet potatoes are best stored in a cool, dry pantry. If refrigerated, they lose their taste.

Veggies are a dieter's best partner. Vegetables get top billing on any fat-control diet because most are "free foods," meaning you can eat an unlimited amount without having to count the calories. Why this lean indulgence? Because of a neat little biochemical quirk that only veggies enjoy: the body uses almost as many calories to digest vegetables as there are in vegetables in the first place. You'll use up most of the 26 calories in a tomato just chewing, swallowing, and digesting it. The leftover calories don't even have a fighting chance of being stored in a fat cell. You'd have to eat entire platefuls of most vegetables before the calories begin to add up.

You can fill up for less. Because of the fibre in vegetables, you get fuller faster, which is another reason why it's nearly impossible to over-eat veggies.

Vegetables are fat-free and cholesterol-free. All vegetables by definition are cholesterol-free and for all practical purposes, fat-free. Over 95 percent of vegetables contain less than a gram of fat per serving, and even that insignificant gram is mostly unsaturated fats. 

What is your favourite vegetable? I love broccoli and love making a broccoli and sweet potato soup.

Have a good weekend Paula xx