Green Vegetables
Alright so you’ve definitely walked passed the green vegetables in the supermarket. You know what I’m talking about. Whether you opted to place broccoli heads, spinach, cos lettuce and capsicum in your trolley is another story entirely, one which may change upon reading this article. Repeat after me: green vegetables are my allies.
What’s the Big Hoo Ha about Green Vegetables.
There’s a reason the natural health community have been going bananas over green vegetables since the get go. Quite simply, fresh green vegetables are among the healthiest food items you can treat your body to. They’re all high in vitamins and minerals, have a high chlorophyll content, and are packed full of live enzymes that assist in giving the body a good vacuum clean. Most of them are alkaline as well (apart from spinach), and function to normalize the body’s pH level which is normally too acidic due to a diet high in sugary foods, white carbohydrates and fats.
I Want the Cold, Hard (Green) Facts Please
Green vegetables are all high in vitamin C and fiber, and also contain vitamin A, iron and calcium. In general, the darker the leaves of the green vegetable, the more nutrients. It’s also worth noting here that organic produce generally has 4 – 5 times the nutritional content so keep an eye out for local growers and the organic section in your supermarket.
Green vegetables are also a good source of enzymes when eaten fresh. Enzymes function to more effectively break down food, allowing for absorption of more nutrients from foods eaten and a more thorough elimination of parts of foods that are not useful to our bodies. In short, enzymes in green vegetables will get your metabolism cracking and ensure a healthy digestive system.
Antioxidants are rife in the green veggie department, as if you needed another reason to be consuming them on a daily basis. Antioxidants bind with free radicals (unstable molecules that damage body tissues) to make them stable, and in this way contribute to ensuring that the body is keeping on top of all the daily free radical producers, such as processed foods, smoke from cigarettes and city smog, and also from airborne pesticides.
Not the Brussel Sprouts, Surely?
If you are not fascinated with the flavour of some of the green vegetables you’ve tried in the past try other green vegetables; there’s a lot out there. String beans, sugar snap peas, broccolini, alfalfa, watercress, bok choi, silverbeet and peas are all wonderful additions to the main meal. You don’t have to go crazy and eat bowls full of the stuff, although there really is no ceiling limit on green vegetables in terms of how much is too much. Half a cup of fresh green vegetables on the side of your dinner every night would make a noticeable difference to the amount of vitamins and minerals you were receiving in your daily food intake. This effect would be greatly increased if the green vegetables you sourced were organic, since organic foods contain more than four times the nutritional content of their non organic counterparts.
Really find it hard to get your intake of fresh green veggies? Throw them in your juicer! Add spinach, watercress and anything else that’s green to your fruit or vegetable juices. Most fruits and veggies will mask the flavour of green vegetables since they’re rather mild tasting, so it’s an option for those who really don’t like the flavour of green vegetables.
Why are you still reading this? Get to your local veggie aisle now!!
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