Green Vegetables – Natural Healthy Choice

If you wish to improve your overall health; “eat your greens”. It has been proved traditionally and scientifically, that an increase in intake of green vegetables makes people healthier. Not only are they low in fat but are also high in dietary fibre, vitamin C, folic acid, potassium and magnesium.

Ranging from dark to light in colour, the shade of green vegetables will tell you what the vegetable contains and for what purpose you can use them. Yellowing of vegetables is a sign of maturity and may have poor flavour. The major benefits of consuming leafy vegetables includes:-

•  Helps in Weight Management – as green vegetables are low in fat, they are considered as the best food component to monitor weight while still maintaining a nutritious diet.

•    Lowers Risk of Diseases – the presence of various nutrients in leafy vegetables lowers the risk of various diseases such as cancer, heart and cardiovascular diseases.

•  Decreases the Risk of Cancer – carotenoids and other strong anti-oxidants present in vegetables are known to have cancer-preventing properties. Phytochemicals too improve vision and help in lowering risk of particular kind of cancer. The various nutrients, vitamins and minerals found in leafy vegetable help in lowering risk of cancers like breast cancer, stomach cancer, lung cancer, colon and skin cancer.

•   Improves Immunity – vegetables are rich in beta-carotene, which is easily converted to vitamin A, therefore improving immune systems.

• Magnesium Magic – the high content of magnesium, a nutrient usually found in dark green vegetables helps in improving memory, regulating body temperature, releasing energies stored in muscles and producing proteins. People with a magnesium deficit, usually suffer from various ailments and diseases such as anxiety, asthma, allergies, attention deficit disorder, type 2 diabetes and heart disease among others.

•   Building Stronger Bones – the high level of calcium in vegetables helps in building stronger teeth and bones.

•  Other Benefits – some of the other nutrients which contribute to overall health include vitamin K which is essential in clotting of the blood that prevents osteoporosis; fiber which helps in weight control; potassium controls high blood pressure and cholesterol.

By incorporating green vegetables in daily food diet, will definitely produce an overall health benefit to children as well as adults. If not a complete green diet, mixing it with other preparations or stir frying them will also help in increasing consumption. Apart adults from altering their lifestyle, it is also essential to inculcate the habit of eating green vegetables from childhood. Considering the increase in obesity and other ailments among children all over the world, an early start will surely help in inculcating a healthy and nutritious food habit.