Ask an expert: What can I eat if I hate vegetables?

Recently I had the opportunity to tour Nutrilite’s Center for Optimal Health. Nutrilite is the world’s leading supplement maker, but I learned that they are also leaders in more than just selling vitamins.  They also have a world-class research department and everyone I met there was passionate about helping people become healthier and fitter (what a refreshing change for a large company to actually appear to care about people).

Before I went down to their facility in California I asked our Twitter friends for their nutrition questions.  For example, do you ever wonder about proper nutrition for athletes, such as soccer superstars Ronaldinho and Marta?  Well I was at the right place, as Nutrilite actually works with both stars on nutrition (they also sponsor the AC Milan soccer team and work with all the players on their nutritional needs).

But Nutrilite’s research benefits regular people, too. Regular people like me – that is, if being an unfit, unprofessional and undernourished amateur athlete defines me as a regular person…?

Anyway, I stalked asked Nutrilite’s  Kerry Grann this question on vegetables and she was peased to answer it.

Q: I hate vegetables. Are there any acceptable substitutions for them such as juices or vitamins?

KG: There is nothing that can 100% replace vegetables in a person’s diet. However, drinking vegetable juice is the next best thing. You will still get the plant nutrients but the amount of fiber may be lower and some of these drinks contain quite a bit of salt so be mindful.

Dietary supplements that contain concentrated plant materials are another good option. Like vegetable juice, they can provide important plant nutrients but they will not have all of the fiber that vegetables have. Also, due to size constraints, supplements can not provide the same amount of plant nutrients that eating the real thing does.

Rather than eating vegetables by themselves, you can also try to incorporate them into foods you like. For example, people who don’t like vegetables may be willing to eat them in foods like pizza, pasta, or casseroles. You can also puree vegetables and add them to foods. Often you can’t even realize they are there!

Kerry Grann lettuce ask more questions too. I’ll be posting them over the next few days (but will you read them after my 2 rotten vegetable puns? Did you find them both?)