Advice on these healthy options

Sparky100

I am trying to increase my fruit and vegetables intake and was wondering firstly what are Crudités?

As fruit contains fructose I want to limit my intake of the sweeter fruits such as grapes, mango, melon etc. What healthier options would anyone recommend?

ALSO

I am looking to eat grains that are high in protein, low or absent in gluten
such as Quinoa which I have started eating recently. I got some suggestions such as Millet, Oats, Kamut, Pearl Barley, Brown Rice and Brown Rice Pasta.

I am not 100% sure what they all are such as Millet or Kamut, pearl barley. I was wondering if they are readily available in the likes of Tesco/Dunnes etc and if so what is good to accompany these whole grains?

Would really appreciate some advice on these. Thanks so much

New Home

Crudités are basically raw vegetables, like carrots and celery, chopped up in little sticks. They are usually eaten with a dip of some sort, it could even be something simple like good quality balsamic vinegar, but you can eat them as they are.

Millet is a type of grass seed, it's also used as bird food, it's often one of the ingredients of canary food. Kamut is a type of wheat, it's a cereal. I'm not sure about the bigger supermarkets, but you can certainly find them in health shops. Pearl barley is normal barley -also a cereal- that has undergone a process to refine it, a bit like white rice. This is available pretty much everywhere. A quick internet search returned this http://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/Markets/10-ancient-grains-to-watch-from-kamut-to-quinoa

As for the fructose levels in fruit, another search returned this http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/nutrients/report/nutrientsfrm?max=25&offset=0&totCount=0&nutrient1=212&nutrient2=&nutrient3=&subset=0&fg=9&sort=c&measureby=g

Hope it helps - if in doubt, ask anyone in a health shop, they'll be more than happy to help you and give you some tips.

blatantrereg

Avoiding gluten is entirely pointless for the large majority of people. If you haven't been told to avoid it by a doctor then don't avoid it. A gluten-free vegetarian diet is also painfully restrictive. I've observed someone following one (which was on medical advice). Gluten is an excellent vegetarian protein source (seitan). It alse tastes very nice if you prepare it right.

Quinoa is not especially useful as a protein source. Cooked quinoa contains less than 5% protein. People talk about it as a vegetarian protein source because it contains essential amino acids in approximately the same proportions that we require them, and people focus too much on proportions of amino acids. A ten stone person would need to eat over a kilogram of cooked quinoa a day to get their proetin requirement.

You seem to be designing an unappetising diet. A nuitritious diet can be very appetising.

Tempeh is an excellent vegetarian protein source. Tempeh is made from fermented soy beans that have been colonised by a certain fungus.

Fermentation reduces the phytic acid content. This means the nutrients will be absorbed more efficiently. If it is left for a week at five degrees and fried the phytic acid content is reduced to negligible levels. I fry it in sesame and sunflower oil with garlic and chili and a bit of hatcho miso, and find it delicious. It goes well with rice, noodles, peas, broccoli, sweet potato...lots of stuff really. Don't try leaving the frozen products out at five degrees they will spoil quickly.

Lentils are also an excellent vegetarian food and also can be delicious. Chick peas are also good. Many people will satisfy their protein requirements from just eating plenty of chick peas and lentils. However if you have an above average protein requirement then you need to consume higher potein foods such as tempeh, seitan, tofu, Quorn. Eggs, milk and cheese are all excellent protein sources too of course. Your protein requirement is primarily determined by your lean body mass.

Most of the vegetable foods I have mentioned above are also useful in a vegetarian diet because they contain high levels of the nutrients people traditionally depend on meat for such as iron. Exceptions are Quorn and seitan/gluten.