Tropicana Jan-Feb 2018 #116 A Start from the Heart

HEALTH
Fruits
Fruits and vegetables fall into various
colour categories including red, purple/
blue, orange, green and white. The
colour denotes its unique disease fighting
phytochemicals. Therefore, the right
way to eat them is to select fruits and
vegetables from different colour groups.
The berry family (blueberries, cranberries,
raspberries, strawberries, blackberries)
are particularly rich in vitamin C, fibre
and also a number of potent antioxidants;
therefore they are known to be the star
performers of the fruit family.
According to the Malaysian Adult
Nutrition Survey 2014, six out of 10
Malaysian adults consumed fruits below
the recommended two servings per day.
This could be due to a lack of awareness of
the importance of fruits or perhaps the fact
that many fresh fruits have a short shelf
life which leads to wastage. Frozen fruits
are able to retain nutrients and can also be
another option to increase fruit intake. Try
incorporating frozen fruits into breakfast
smoothies which will boost your nutrient
intake first thing in the morning.
Vegetables
Low fruit and vegetable intake in itself is
among the top 10 selected risk factors for
global mortality. It is alarming to find that
the same survey also revealed that 81.7
per cent of Malaysian adults consumed
vegetables below the recommended
three servings per day. In another
survey, it was found that 93.7 per cent of
adolescents consumed vegetables below the
recommended three servings per day.
Find creative ways to increase
vegetable intake especially when meals are
prepared at home.
• Add chopped onions, spring onions,
green beans or shredded cabbage into
fried noodles.
• Serve vegetable based soups such as
spinach soup or watercress soup as an
appetizer.
• Add tomatoes, shredded carrots or
capsicums into your pasta dish.
• Enhance the flavour of your broth
by adding leeks, celery, tomatoes or
carrots.
• Modify recipes of pies or muffins by
adding peas and shredded carrots.
• Add cucumbers, lettuce and tomatoes
into sandwiches.
Grains
Grains such as rice, noodles, bread and
other cereal products provide energy.
Choose unrefined or wholegrain cereals
(e.g. brown rice, wholemeal bread,
wholegrain pasta) for additional benefits
of improving gut health, while helping to
reduce the risk of chronic diseases.
Rice is the staple food in Malaysia,
just like in other Asian countries. If rice is
preferred at main meals, choosing black
rice, red rice or purple rice will increase
intake of the antioxidant anthocyanins
compared to white or brown rice. Ready to
forgo rice and try other alternatives? Swap
your rice with quinoa or amaranth for
more fibre and protein. Quinoa also serves
as a better source of iron and magnesium
than brown rice and these minerals help
you to build red blood cells and maintain
healthy bone tissue.
85 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018 | TM