Vegetables add taste, color, texture, and nutritional value to many favorite meals.
Many people think that they are too busy to eat enough vegetables or that vegetables just don't taste very good. The Food Guide Pyramid recommends eating three to five servings of vegetables a day. Vegetables contain very little fat, no cholesterol, plenty of dietary fiber, and lots of vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals. Phytochemicals are the chemicals found in plants that may protect our cells from the damaging effects of toxic substances, which can result in cancer and heart disease. So it's good to know there is little difference in the amount of nutrients in fresh, frozen, or canned vegetables.