Nutritious diet plays a key role in maintaining your health. One of the ways to ensure you are consuming a balanced diet is to incorporate a lot of green vegetables in your daily diet. From your childhood days, you would have heard your elders emphasizing on eating vegetables and how it helps you stay healthy – they were absolutely right. Even if you are a non-vegetarian, you will need your greens or vegetables on a regular basis.
Vegetables are full of essential vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants that provide so many important health benefits to your body. Carrots for instance are very high in vitamin A, which plays an important role in eye health, as you grow older.
Some of the main health benefits of vegetables include:
Nutrition aspect – Vegetables are a rich source of folate, a B vitamin that helps your body make new red blood cells. Folate is especially important for children’s health and known to reduce the risk of cancer and depression. Vegetables are also great sources of essential minerals like Copper, Magnesium, Zinc, Phosphorous and Selenium.
Better Digestive Health –
Vegetables are a good source of dietary fibre, a type of carbohydrate that helps pass food through your digestive system. Studies show that fiber may also improve vitamin and mineral absorption in the body, which could potentially raise your daily energy levels.
Blood Pressure control –
Many green leafy vegetables like kale and spinach contain potassium. Potassium helps your kidneys filter sodium out of your body more efficiently, which can reduce your blood pressure.
Lower Risk of Heart Disease –
Green leafy vegetables also contain vitamin K, which known to prevent calcium from building up in your arteries. This can lower your risk of arterial damage and help prevent many heart health complications in the future.
Diabetes Control –
Vegetables are particularly high in fibre, which is needed for optimal digestion. They have a low glycemic index, so your blood sugar will not rise quickly after a meal. The American Diabetes Association recommends at least 3 to 5 servings per day of non-starchy vegetables like broccoli, carrots, or cauliflower.
Here are some easy and interesting ways to include vegetables in your diet:
Try a mixed salad with kale, cabbage, and brussels sprouts
Cook onions, peppers, and zucchini together for a vegetable kabob meal
Roast your tomatoes in the oven with olive oil, parmesan cheese, and basil
Create a fresh Mediterranean garden salad with lettuce, sweet peas, peppers, and cherry tomatoes
Fry vegetables with oil in a wok with chicken or tofu to create a delicious stir-fry
Create a vegetable melt by adding asparagus, mushrooms, and peppers to toasted cheese bread
Try greek or Russian salad recipes using your favourite veggies
Not only do vegetables provide nutrients and vitamins that can be hard to get from other sources, but they have many additional benefits that most people do not even realise. With so many different options available these days, there are tonnes of vegetables that can add variety and nutrition to your diet.
Eating Vegetables can also apparently improve your Mental Health. A 2020 study showed that people who eat a variety of vegetables and fruits tend to have reduced depression and anxiety, as well as an improved sense of optimism in life. Particularly represented in this study were leafy greens such as spinach, lettuce, and kale. There is also another study showing that eating these vegetables raw (or barely cooked or steamed) can increase the benefit. This is especially true for carrots and cucumbers.
It is evident that consuming vegetables can have a plenty of benefits to your body and mind. Hence, ensure you get your greens and get glowing. Add vibrant colours to your plate as well as your life.