Eating at least two serves of fruit and three serves of vegetables each day is one of the best things you can do for your health. There is strong evidence that a diet rich in fruits and vegetables can be protective against many diseases such as cancer and heart disease. Here are a few suggestions.

How to increasing your fruit intake

• Add fresh or dried fruit to breakfast cereals
• Fruits come in their own wrapper and make an excellent snack
• Have a smoothie made from bananas or berries
• Bananas, bunches of grapes and orange segments can be frozen and eaten on a hot day
• Fruit can be added to savoury dishes such as curries (e.g. banana or sultanas)
• Have fruit for dessert - try a fruit salad or baked fruit
• Fruit platters or kebabs with yoghurt dip
• Carry a bag of dried fruit with you for a snack
• Grate apple, pear or add berries to a pancake mix

How to increasing your vegetable intake

• Snack on raw vegetables e.g. baby tomatoes, carrot, celery, snowpeas
• Add vegetables to pizza and pasta
• Tasty soups can be made from most vegetables
• Serve chopped vegetables with dips such as carrots, snow peas, celery, broccoli
• A cob of freshly steamed corn is a great, low-fat snack
• Toss some vegetables into a stir-fry and add your favourite sauce
• Make a substantial salad. You could try baby spinach, rocket, lightly steamed broccoli, red capsicum, tomato and roast kumara and add your favourite dressing
• Grate or dice onion, carrot, courgette, red capsicum or corn into a savoury muffin or pikelet mixture