Green is currently a very popular color. Environmentalists are talking about a greener world; corporate companies are going green to save the earth’s resources. Scientists are talking about fueling the future with green gasoline, derived from plant sources. Health and nutrition experts have been talking green for a long time. A diet that is rich in green vegetables can help protect and support good health!
Vegetables like spinach, broccoli, avocado, green peppers, romaine lettuce, are good for your health. The greener the color, the more health value it has. Green vegetables have:
the least amount of calories
the lowest fat value
the highest protein content per calorie
high in dietary fiber
Most Americans like to dodge eating green vegetables. Surveys indicate that the average American eats less than 2 cups of green vegetables a week! The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend that we eat at least one cup of raw green leafy vegetables a day.
Green Superfoods are great for health for diverse reasons:
Good for your diet. Green beans, cabbage, leafy green vegetables are low in calories. They are packed in nutritive value, and make your stomach feel full without filling your body with calories.
They add protein to your diet. Vegetable protein is said to be far superior to meat protein! Plant protein is much easier to digest and there is no cholesterol! Broccoli has the highest protein content – about 3 grams of protein a just half a cup. Spirulina and chlorella contains 65-70% which is higher than soy, wheat or any meat source.
They add fiber to your diet. The average American diet is lacking in fiber. Green vegetables like broccoli, spinach, swiss chard, mustard greens, green peas, kale and other dark green leafy vegetables add fiber to your diet. Fiber binds toxins to themselves, helping your body clear them through your digestive system without allowing them to enter your body. Fiber adds bulk for peristalsis and helps to prevent constipation. Fiber also helps to keep a healthy intestinal microflora—an environment where good bacteria proliferates and bad bacteria (pathogens) find it difficult to survive. Fiber is also useful in weight management.
They add essential phytochemicals to your diet. Phytochemicals are powerful antioxidants found in plant substances. Vegetables like spinach, zucchini, brussels sprouts, garden peas, Swiss chard, kale, collard greens, mustard greens and turnip greens contain high amounts of the phytochemicals beta-carotene, lutein, and zeaxanthin. Research shows that these powerful antioxidants can help your body protect itself from night blindness, macular degeneration.1
Antioxidants also play a role in neutralizing free radical activity. Free radical activity destabilizes the molecular activity in the body, leading to cell degeneration or cell mutation. This breakdown of cell structure at the basic level of health can eventually lead to tissue and organ damage, even cancer and other diseases. Antioxidants can nutritionally help to slow this process.
They contain high amounts of essential minerals. Green vegetables contain calcium, iron, potassium and magnesium.
Calcium is needed for bone building and also helps your muscles and nerves to function well. It helps in the clotting of blood. Vegetables rich in calcium are the outer leaves of cabbage, broccoli leaves, turnip greens, mustard greens, collards, and kale.
Iron is important for cellular reproduction. Every second about 50 million old cells in the body are replaced by new ones! And iron is needed in the reproduction of every new cell! Iron is also needed by the body for metabolism. Avocado, asparagus, and broccoli are rich in iron content.
Potassium and magnesium are connected to the regulating of normal blood pressure and blood sugar levels.
Green Vegetables contains essential vitamins you normally do not find in other vegetables. Folate (Vitamin B9) and Vitamin K are found in good amounts in green vegetables. Folate is necessary for DNA duplication and repair and also promotes heart health. Vitamin K is necessary for the clotting of blood.
Buffers the stomach. Green vegetables buffer the stomach. A normal American diet contains too much sugar, starch and fats which causes too much acidity. Proper digestion of nutrients cannot take place in a digestive environment which is too acidic. Green vegetables can help bring the pH level to normal.
Green Vegetables Provide Enzymes: Raw green vegetables contain enzymes that help to digest food. They support a healthy digestive system.
There are plenty of good reasons to eat green vegetables! Add them to your diet every day. If you’re one of those who run away from vegetables, try a green food supplement like Royal Greens Ultra. Your body needs to have the health benefits that come from green foods. Supplements consist of natural foods which include chlorella and spirulina, probiotics and other fruits and vegetables to support and protect immune health, heart health and digestive health.
References:
Age-Related Eye Disease Study Research Group, SanGiovanni JP, Chew EY, et al. The relationship of dietary carotenoid and vitamin A, E, and C intake with age-related macular degeneration in a case-control study: AREDS Report No. 22. (2007) Arch Ophthalmol 125:1225-1232. PMID 17846363
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