Why Eating Green Vegetables Is Good for You
Mom Was Right About the Green Leafy Vegetables
From a young age, you’ve no doubt been encouraged to eat your greens. Whether it was broccoli, spinach, or green beans, your mom probably made you eat some sort of green vegetables every day.
You may have hated eating them, even when your parents tried to convince you they were full of vitamins and minerals. Now, you understand the importance of eating these green vegetables.
Maybe nutritional powerhouses like kale, broccoli, and spinach are even regularly found in your fridge nowadays.
The Healthiest Dark Leafy Green Vegetables
Incorporating leafy green vegetables into your daily diet helps improve your health. They can help reduce the risk of obesity and cardiovascular diseases, as well as control blood sugar levels.
Which green vegetables are the best to include in your diet? Here are some of the best kinds of leafy greens to consume:
1. Collard Greens
These loose-leaf vegetables taste bitter, but they’re packed with a lot of nutrients. They belong to the same family as kale.
Collard greens contain Vitamin C, B9, A, and K, as well as calcium.
2. Kale
Kale greens pack so many nutrients and are one of the most popular green vegetables.
Not only does it contain various vitamins and minerals, but kale also contains lutein and beta-carotene. These antioxidants counter the effects of oxidative stress in the body.
What is oxidative stress? This occurs when the body experiences an imbalance of antioxidants and free radicals. If not countered, it can result in cell and tissue damage.
3. Spinach
Spinach doesn’t just make Popeye strong, it also makes anyone who eats it strong and healthy.
This unassuming green can be added into smoothies, soups, and salads. You’ll love eating it because it contains Vitamin K and A, as well as manganese and folate.
What is folate? Also known as Vitamin B6, this nutrient assists in cell growth and red blood cell production.
4. Turnip Greens
These are the leaves of a turnip plant and classified as cruciferous, which means they can help lower the risk of developing health issues like bowel inflammation and cardiovascular diseases.
They also contain various antioxidants to help the body fight off the effects of oxidative stress.
Other leafy green vegetables to include in your daily meals include arugula, watercress, Romaine lettuce, Bok Choy, and Swiss chard, although not everyone finds green vegetables appetizing.
But now another category of greens is becoming an integral part of a healthy diet: super greens.
What Are Super Greens?
Green foods grown in water such as micro-algae spirulina and wheatgrass are gaining massively in popularity and for good reason. Although small in size, they pack a huge punch with an astonishingly high concentration of nutrients.
These types of greens are often known as super greens.
Here are some of the benefits of super greens:
Good source of fiber
Provide digestive enzymes for gut health
Weight loss
Boost energy
Promote healthy skin
If you’re feeling run down and tired, incorporating super greens into your routine is a great way to give yourself a boost.
These super greens are like green vegetables but on another level.
Super greens are very nutrient-dense and packed with beneficial properties. They can either be eaten in their natural state or in a supplemental green powder form.
If eating wheatgrass or spirulina doesn’t sound appealing, try incorporating them into your diet in powder form like in a smoothie with fruit to mask the taste.
1. Phytonutrients
One of the largest benefits of consuming super greens is they contain phytonutrients. These phytonutrients from plants are super important and may help to prevent disease and keep your body in proper working order.
2. Vitamins
Plus, greens typically contain high amounts of Vitamin A and C. Both of these essential vitamins help to support a healthy immune system.
3. Probiotics
An additional benefit of using green powders is that they typically contain probiotics.
A healthy digestive system and immune system start with having enough good bacteria in your gut. So be sure to check if your super greens powder contains probiotics.
4. Chlorophyll
You also want to be sure to eat a diet rich in green superfoods as they naturally contain chlorophyll.
Chlorophyll is what gives certain foods their characteristically green color. Deep green may not look all too appealing but it offers a lot of benefits to the body.
Chlorophyll is noted for its detoxification properties, cancer-fighting abilities, and therapeutic benefits.
Another 90-day-study found that people with high blood pressure who took greens powder found an 8% decrease in both diastolic and systolic blood pressure. The control group showed no signs of improvement in blood pressure.
Which Super Greens Are the Healthiest?
So, there’s no question that you need super greens in your life, but which greens are considered the most nutritionally dense?
There are a variety of super greens to choose from, and as with anything, it’s great to consume a range of them as each one can provide different health benefits. Super greens include:
Barley grass
Wheatgrass
Alfalfa grass
Spirulina
Chlorella
If you want to go ahead and feel the benefits of eating super greens, try making a smoothie with them.
What Are the Benefits of Supergreens?
1. Good Source of Fiber
Super greens are a great source of dietary fiber. Fiber is essential for digestive health and regular bowel movements, so be sure to eat a diet high in fiber.
Fiber also encourages you to remove toxins from your body in an efficient way. Eating a diet with plenty of fruit and vegetables is the best way to get enough fiber.
By supplementing with a super greens powder, you’ll be sure to get in some extra daily fiber that’s healthy for your body and revitalizes your energy to keep going strong all day.
2. Provide Digestive Enzymes for Gut Health
Another of the benefits of super greens is that they provide digestive enzymes.
So, what exactly are digestive enzymes? Well, these particles help with the digestion of other foods, especially proteins.
In order to properly break down food, you need digestive enzymes.
So if you experience indigestion, bloating, heartburn, or a stomach ache after eating, you may just need more digestive enzymes in your diet.
By adding these to your diet in the form of greens, it can help to make your digestion more efficient.
3. Weight Loss
So, do you remember when we talked about how chlorophyll is great for its detoxification abilities? The chlorophyll contained in super greens has been linked to weight loss.
One study actually found that people who took a green plant membrane supplement including chlorophyll reported greater weight loss than the group who didn’t take anything. Researchers also found a reduction in harmful cholesterol levels in the supplement-taking group.
Now, this doesn’t mean that chlorophyll alone is something you can take in a pill and magically lose weight. But, along with a healthy diet and exercise, chlorophyll can give your metabolism an extra boost to help you lose more weight faster.
4. Boost Energy
Super greens also help you feel revitalized and give your energy levels a boost. For non-coffee drinkers, this is good news.
In a three-month study of healthy women, those consuming greens powder reported significant increases in energy levels compared to the placebo group who had no changes in energy levels.
Maybe one morning, try replacing your cup of coffee with a super greens smoothie to see how you feel. Even if you still want to stick with your caffeinated coffee or tea, adding more super greens into your diet makes you feel better longer.
5. Promote Healthy Skin
So, this is a big one for those with acne or even if you just have dull skin. Super greens have been shown to promote skin healing.
Chlorophyll, which is found in super greens, appears to encourage the growth of new skin cells and may even be effective in people with mild to moderate acne.
In one study, people with acne and large pores saw an improvement in their skin after using a topical chlorophyllin gel for three weeks.
You may even find that old acne scars fade away since chlorophyll encourages new skin cell growth. Or if your skin is always dull, chlorophyll can help to brighten and revitalize your complexion.
Don’t like to eat your greens? Try the 1st Phrom Greens Powder to kickstart your day!