Tips on Learning to Love Vegetables

Mothers always know best, so it’s no wonder they keep telling us to eat our veggies and brush our teeth. Vegetables are the most health-promoting food group of the lot, while also being a valuable source of vitamins, fibers, antioxidants and low in calories and fat. Thanks to Elaine Magee, MPH, RD from WebMD, below are some good tips for learning to love vegetables – and get the best of what they have to offer.

For starters, Magee says that veggie haters are both born and trained. Some people might not like vegetables because they bring about some unpleasant memory from childhood or even later in life, while others have an acquired dislike for them. Both groups, though, can benefit from vegetables if they only have the desire to overcome said dislike, Magee further points out.

One first step towards learning to love veggies is to eat them raw, because overcooking them can make them mushy, soft and lose most of their savor. Then again, Magee maintains, if raw vegetables is too much for you to stomach, you may want to try grilling them, and serve them with a less softer consistency and that exquisite charred taste. “If veggies are only served in ways that don’t match your personal flavor preferences, they won’t seem exciting.” Karen Collins, MS, RD, nutrition advisor for the American Institute for Cancer Research, explains for WebMD.

So, the solution to learning to enjoy vegetables is to trick yourself into not thinking about them. For instance, instead of constantly thinking that you’re eating plain grilled greens, you can add some of your favorite sauce or dressing, and you will instantly forget about the veggies. Another effective tip is to start slipping greens “you almost love into foods you already love,” Magee shares. This way, you will still get to enjoy your pizza or pastas or any other dish, but, at the same time, fully benefit from veggies.

If none of the above work for you and you literally have to force yourself to eat vegetables, start with baby steps, Magee continues. Cut your veggies into tiny pieces and mix them with your food, so that you won’t be able to tell which is which when you eat them. More often than not, the dislike for vegetables can be “cured,” doctors assure us, as long as we too are willing to give it a go. If not, then we’re missing out on a very important health source.