Chop and change your vegies

Chop and change the vegies you eat, and the way you cook them, and your body will thank you for it.

When we eat a variety of vegies we also eat a variety of nutrients, which is ideal for our health and wellbeing. Plus it is this variety that gives us the healthiest tummies as different vegies feed different gut bugs.

How you eat your vegies is also important when it comes to overall health benefit, which is why it is a good idea to cook them in a variety of ways too!   

Eat the rainbow

Just like a plant that needs different minerals to grow, our bodies need lots of different nutrients to help us perform at our best. By choosing different coloured vegies to throw in meals and snacks, you give yourself the best chance at getting all the good bits, like vitamins and phytochemicals, that are on offer. For example, munching on green vegies such as broccoli and spinach will give your body a boost of vitamin K, while yellow and orange vegies such as squash and pumpkin provide lots of beta carotene.

This is why we suggest you reach for a rainbow of vegies when filling up the trolley.

Top tips on how to eat the rainbow

Choose a range of colourful vegies as you fill your trolley each week. This doesn't just include fresh produce either. Think about the rainbow as you select from the frozen section as well as the tinned or canned section. Whenever you are choosing vegies, try to reach for a rainbow.

Feed all the good bugs  

Plant based food, such as vegies, fruits and grains all feed the good bugs that live in our tummy. Eating a variety of vegies means a smorgasbord for these bugs, otherwise known as your microbiome. The more variety, the more varied your colony of bugs will be, and the science is showing us this is key to a lot of positive health outcomes.

This is why we suggest you make variety part of your routine by swapping your staples as the seasons change.   

Top tips on how to feed all the good bugs

Increase variety and feed all the good bugs by swapping your staples as the seasons change. This could mean swapping your salad greens (rocket for spinach or buy a mixed bag), changing up your mash ingredients (sweet potato instead of potato), adding different toppings to your MYO taco spread (add corn kernels, black beans or grated zucchini), stirring different vegies through the spag bol (diced celery one week, sliced mushroom the next) or adding different vegies to smoothies (a handful of spinach, some avocado or a few butter beans). Boosting variety can also be achieved by adding a variety of fresh herbs to flavour your cooking.

As an added bonus, local and seasonal vegies are often cheaper and will most likely taste better as they won’t have travelled far or spent a long time in storage.

Eat all the different ways

Vegetables contain a range of nutrients including vitamins (water soluble and fat soluble), minerals, fibre plus lots of extra goodies such as phytochemicals, enzymes and antioxidants. The way vegies are cooked can affect each of these nutrients, which changes  how they are absorbed once eaten. By eating vegies raw as well as cooked (and cooking in different ways), your body has every opportunity to benefit from the variety of nutrients within. 

This is why we suggest you eat your vegies in different ways across the week.

Top tips on how to eat all the different ways

Throughout the week see how many ways you can prepare the one vegetable by swapping between raw and cooked – and trying different cooking methods such as steamed, roasted, baked, air fried, or slow cooked. Eat tomatoes different ways by slicing  fresh for sandwiches, roasting to add to salads or slow cooking in a spaghetti Bolognese. Eat broccoli different ways by lightly steaming as a side dish, dipping raw florets in hummus or roasting to add to salads. Eat zucchini different ways by lightly grilling  as a side dish, grating raw to stir through salads or steaming as zoodles to replace spaghetti. See how creative you can be!

Be mindful that not all vegetables are safe to eat raw (such as potatoes and eggplant). 

The lowdown

When it comes to cooking vegies, it’s recommended to use small amounts of healthy fats, cook for short periods of time and avoid boiling or poaching as most of the nutrients will end up poured down the sink.  

Remember to chop and change the vegies you eat, and the way you cook them. Your body will thank you for it.

What are water soluble vitamins?

Water soluble vitamins include:

Vitamin C

The B Group Vitamins (B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B9, B12)

Water soluble vitamins tend to be more sensitive to heat and will dissolve in water, which means the cooking method, time spent cooking and temperature used will all affect these delicate nutrients.

What are fat soluble vitamins?

Fat soluble vitamins include:

Vitamin A

Vitamin D

Vitamin E

Vitamin K

Although fat soluble vitamins tend to more stable when cooked, they need to be eaten with other fats to be effectively absorbed. Try to combine with some healthy fats when serving such as adding salad dressing containing olive or sunflower oil, throwing in a handful of raw seeds or nuts or serving with some lean protein such as chicken, tofu or tinned fish.