There are many benefits of green vegetables in your diet. Green leafy vegetables in your diet is always part of any good nutrition or weight loss or management program. Greens include spinach, broccoli, kale, rocket, collard greens, lettuce, watercress, bok choy, silver beet and more!
When we were young, our parents always used to say to ‘eat your greens because they will make you healthy and strong’. As we have grown older and wiser, we have started to learn why our parents scooped a large portion of green vegetables onto our plate, and that there are so many more benefits to our diet, health and wellbeing of eating greens everyday.
Even though our daily recommended servings size of vegetables is five serves a day, according to the ABS, in 2017-2018, only about 7.5% of Australian adults met the dietary guidelines for vegetable consumption.
So, why is the green stuff so good?
Great for maintaining a healthy weight
Vegetables are the ultimate healthy food. Including your green leafy vegetables in your diet is always a part of any good nutrition or weight loss or management program. They are versatile, easy to prepare, make you feel full faster and they offer lower kilojoules/calories than most of the other food groups.
Better gut and heart health
Green leafy vegetables are rich in dietary fibre. They help to regulate your bowel movement, help lower cholesterol levels, improve blood pressure and can reduce the risk for heart disease and certain cancers.
An abundance of nutrients
Aside from fibre, your greens are also very rich in vitamins and minerals that help your body’s regulatory process, fluid balance, cell repair, immune/anti-inflammatory response and bone development. There are a lot of choices of greens that you can choose from and they are all very nutrient dense like your spinach, broccoli, kale, rocket, collard greens, lettuce, watercress, bok choy, silver beet or Swiss chard and many more.
Try these veggie rice paper rolls or creamy green pasta recipes.
Liven up your meals
Adding greens to your everyday meals puts life and balance into your diet. The Australian Dietary Guidelines say that about one third of our plate should be vegetables. Their colour and texture enhance your meal experience and satisfies you, plus with the added bonus of no bloated feeling after. Combine them with other coloured vegetables and you’ll have a medley of nutritious goodness in your plate all the time.
Speak to your Fernwood Food Coach for more info on adding green vegetables to your diet and other nutrition information to support your goals, or fill out the form below to get more info on our Fernwood women’s only memberships.
