. . .  and why we need to stay steady on the vegetable eating.

I learned something new about vegetables this week.  We’ve known they provide mega doses of antioxidants.  But research now shows that those antioxidants don’t stick around forever.  In fact, they don’t stick around very long at all.  So if we want to benefit continuously from the disease-fighting benefits of antioxidants (and who doesn’t as flu season descends upon us), then our vegetable-eating needs to be continuous.  Kind of like an IV drip, you need to be filling the antioxidant pipeline continuously by eating a steady stream vegetables.

It’s not enough to eat a big salad on Sunday and think you’re covered ’til Tuesday.  Nor is it ideal to cram in all your daily vegetables at dinner.  Experiment with spreading your veggie intake over more hours of the day.

Interestingly, I’ve been eating vegetables for breakfast, lunch and dinner for many years, simply because I feel better in terms of energy and lightness.  Now I see there are even more benefits.

One of the many ideas in the Veggie Diaries: A no-chemicals store-bought sauce plus frozen green beans and sweet potatoes makes this a super simple breakfast or lunch option. Make enough for two meals at a time and you can have it for both! Of course if feature whole grain, brown rice pasta.

Eating a continuous flow of vegetables has also prepared me for the inevitable question that arises whenever vegetables and meals are mentioned in the same sentence:  “But don’t vegetables take too much time?”  I can now say, based on lots of experience, “No, fixing vegetable-based meals doesn’t take any longer than driving to pick up an Egg McMuffin or a bucket of Kentucky Fried.  The key lies in know fast vegetable combos.  That’s what you learn from my Tweets.  Join me on Twitter and you’ll be first in line for all the ideas I come up with.