Your vital lifestyle

It doesn't take a lot to improve your overall health and wellbeing. By incorporating a few of the simple tips below you can look and feel better every day as well as achieve higher levels of vitality, naturally.

Top 10 Tips from Vital Vegetables® ambassador Dr. Joanna McMillan Price

1. Fill half your plate with vegetables and/or fruit. You'll cut the kilojoules of the meal helping you to control your weight and boost your intake of key vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.
2. Avoid processed meats such as bacon, salami and commercial burgers and sausages as much as possible. They contain too much of the wrong fats, contain potentially carcinogenic preservatives and other undesirable additives.
3. Walk for at least half an hour every day regardless of what other exercise you do.
4. Do some more intense exercise at least 3 times a week - anything that makes you sweat, huff and puff counts.
5. Avoid soft drinks and other sugar-sweetened drinks. Liquid kilojoules do not register in the same way in the brain as those from food that is chewed so tends to lead to over consumption, not to mention ruining your teeth!
6. Eat small regular meals rather than one or two large ones to boost your metabolism. Going long stretches (more than 4 hours) without food will only leave you so ravenous you will overeat.
7. Avoid processed carbohydrates including white bread, pastries, bagels and others made from white flour as much as possible. They almost all have a high GI leading to rapid changes in blood sugar and over stimulation of insulin.
8. Eat more antioxidant rich vegetables and fruit. Look for a range of different colours for the most benefit - the more different plant foods you consume the better.
9. Include more wholegrains and broaden the variety of grains that you eat. Barley, bulgur, quinoa and oats are all low GI, rich in nutrients and fibre. Eating more of such foods has been shown to reduce risk of chronic disease and help to control body weight.
10. Do some strength training at least twice a week. This needn't be in the gym, but can be a simple series of resistance exercises using your own body weight (eg pushups). This boosts your muscle mass, helping to reduce your risk of insulin resistance and diabetes, and is one of the best means of boosting your metabolism and keeping your weight down.

To boost your body's naturally vitality, include Vital Vegetables® as part of your five servings of fruit and vegetable enjoyed each day.