Practically everyone knows that regularly consuming a diet that is rich in fruits and vegetables is important for their overall health and well being. however, far too many of us fail to consistently meet the minimum daily requirements set by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

Regularly consuming a variety of fruits and vegetables, as part of your overall dietary regime, is an outstanding way to ensure that you are providing your body with a wide array of vitamin and minerals.

Not only will regularly consuming fruits and vegetables assist in providing you with the nutrients required to appropriately and efficiently perform a whole host of necessary bodily functions but, they also tend to be low in calories as well.

According to new nutritional guidelines, approximately half of your plate for every meal should consist of vegetables and/or fruits, which can be a tall order for individuals that are accustomed to getting most of their calories in the form of proteins, carbohydrates and fats.

Tips on How you can Add More Fruits and Veggies to Your Dietary Intake

Fortunately, there are plenty of ways of adding fruits and vegetables to your daily dietary intake routine aside from whipping up massive side dishes with every meal. Here are six of the best ways to amp up your fruit and veggie intake today.

1. Start at Breakfast

Dietitians suggest that one of the easiest ways to work towards the Department of Agriculture’s fruit and vegetable consumption guidelines is to start eating them in the morning. Try adding some strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and/or blackberries to yogurt, or slice up some strawberries and bananas over your cereal. A fresh peach or a ripe apple can be a great compliment to standard breakfast fare such as oatmeal.

There are plenty of unexpected ways to add vegetables to your morning routine as well. Cut up some mushrooms, spinach and roasted red peppers and add them to an omelet, or top your bagel with basil, low-fat cream cheese and a thick slice of ripe, juicy tomato.

2. Keep Frozen Vegetables on Hand

Preparing weeknight dinners can be a dreadful chore, especially when you have to start chopping and peeling vegetables for a side dish or main course. Try keeping some frozen vegetables in your freezer as a quick and tasty alternative. The preparation is as simple as pouring the bag into a pan and steaming, and some companies are now selling frozen veggies that can be steamed right in the bag, saving you a step and cutting down on dirty dishes.

Make sure to buy the varieties without added sauce, and add a small amount of salt, pepper and perhaps some Parmesan cheese for seasoning.

You might wonder whether you’ll be sacrificing some nutritional value by consuming frozen vegetables instead of fresh ones. According to Keri Gans of the American Dietetic Association, most frozen veggies have the exact same nutritional profiles as their fresh counterparts. Canned veggies are OK too, so long as they don’t contain a ton of added sodium. Read the label to be sure.

3. Enjoy Fruit and Vegetable Juices

Many people don’t realize that they don’t have to eat their way to five servings of fruit and vegetables a day – they can drink their way, too. Visit your grocer’s juice aisle and hunt down products advertising 100% vegetable or fruit juice. Stay away from “juice cocktails,” which usually only contain around 10% real juice and largely consist of water and sweeteners.

A couple words of warning: first, it’s not a good idea to replace all of your normal fruit and vegetable servings with juices, even if they’re 100% all-natural juice. That’s because whole fruits are a great source of fiber, which you’ll need in a balanced diet anyways. Second, even all-natural juices contain plenty of sugar, and too much sugar is exactly that, even if it comes from natural sources.

4. Make Veggies, Not Meats, the Focus of Your Meals

In America, it’s traditional for meals to be thought about and called by the proteins they include; if you had roasted chicken and green beans for dinner, and someone asked what you had to eat, your answer would be “chicken,” not “green beans.”

The new dietary guidelines posed by the USDA are trying to break us of this habit. When you’re planning a meal, think about the vegetables you have on hand or that you’d like to eat that night, and go from there. Doing so will help to ensure that you get a serving of veggies with every meal, propelling you on your way to consuming your daily recommended servings.

And instead of piling the proteins, rices and pastas onto your plate first, start with the vegetables. After serving yourself a generous portion of veggies, take a small serving each of proteins and starches. If you’re still hungry, finish off the vegetables and pack up everything else for leftovers.

5. Think of Fruits as Sweets

Instead of reaching for a slice of cake or a bowl of ice cream for dessert, get creative (and a lot healthier) by blending up your own fruit smoothies, preferably with no extra sugar. The combination of low-fat yogurt, non-fat milk, ice and your favorite fruit combinations makes for a filling, nutritious and extremely tasty finale to any meal, and can double as a mid-morning snack or even its own lunch as well. Bananas, berries, peaches, melons and any number of other fruits can make for a nutritious sweet treat that’s simple to prepare and leaves little mess.

If you can’t help but reach for the ice cream (and it’s acceptable to do so on occasion, as part of a balanced diet), dress it with fruit instead of chocolate syrup, hot fudge or caramel sauce. Try pureeing some strawberries or peaches in a food processor or blender and drizzling them over your favorite ice cream or frozen yogurt.

6. Make Fruit Accessible

After returning home from the store with a fresh batch of produce, don’t hide it in an out-of-reach cabinet or the bottom drawer of your refrigerator. Instead, put it in a bowl on the kitchen counter and encourage your family to snack on it whenever they’d like. The produce won’t spoil nearly as quickly as you think, and the truth is that putting it in the fridge will often lead to spoiling anyway after you forget that it’s there.

There are two hidden bonuses here: for one, you’ll get the most value out of your grocery bill by actually eating everything you buy instead of burying it in your fridge. You’ll also get more flavor out of the raw produce itself, since your taste buds are more responsive to foods that are warm or at room temperature instead of chilled.

Adding Fruits and Vegetables to Your Diet: The Bottom Line

Adding fruits and vegetables to your daily dietary routine is easy – you just need to get a little creative. Add fruits and veggies to every meal that you can, and don’t be afraid to cut down on starches and meats in order to do so.

Expedite the process by keeping a freezer full of vegetables, ready to be used as a side dish with any meal. Satisfy your sweet tooth with fruits instead of processed sugars. Display your produce like a badge of honor right on your countertop, and don’t be afraid to reach in the fruit bowl whenever you need an energy boost.