15 Reasons to Eat More Vegetables

Vegetables are a crucial part of our diets by providing us nutrients that meat doesn’t always have. Everyone should eat a little green every day! There are so many different ways to prepare vegetables that even the most picky eaters can find a favorite way to eat them. With these 15 reasons to eat more vegetables, you’ll be motivated to make your meals more healthy for your body!

• Eating a diet rich in vegetables as part of an overall healthy diet may reduce risk for heart disease, including heart attack and stroke.

• Eating a diet rich in some vegetables as part of an overall healthy diet may protect against certain types of cancers.

• Diets rich in foods containing fiber, such as some vegetables, reduces the risk of obesity, and type 2 diabetes.

• Eating foods such as vegetables that are lower in calories per cup instead of some other higher-calorie food may be useful in helping to lower calorie intake. Vegetables are a “free food” with a very low calorie-density, so you can eat almost unlimited amounts while still burning fat after a workout.

• Most vegetables are naturally low in fat and none have cholesterol. (Sauces or seasonings may add fat, calories, or cholesterol.)

• Vegetables are important sources of many nutrients, including potassium, dietary fiber, folate (folic acid), vitamin A, and vitamin C.

• Vegetables rich in potassium may help to maintain healthy blood pressure. Vegetable sources of potassium include sweet potatoes, white potatoes, white beans, tomato products (paste, sauce, and juice), beet greens, soybeans, lima beans, spinach, lentils, and kidney beans.

• Dietary fiber from vegetables, as part of an overall healthy diet, helps reduce blood cholesterol levels and may lower risk of heart disease.

• Fiber from vegetables is also important for proper bowel function. It helps reduce constipation and diverticulosis.

• Folate in greens (folic acid) helps the body form red blood cells. Women who may become pregnant should consume adequate folate from foods and in addition 400 mcg of synthetic folic acid from fortified foods or supplements. This reduces the risk of neural tube defects, spina bifida, and anencephaly during fetal development.

• Vitamin A found in vegetables keeps eyes and skin healthy and helps to protect against infections.

• The Vitamin C found in vegetables helps heal cuts and wounds and keeps teeth and gums healthy. Vitamin C aids in iron absorption.

• Nutritious high fiber foods such as vegetables help displace energy-dense choices and increase satiety (the feeling of fullness). All fruits and vegetables contain fiber.

• Many of the phytochemicals in fruits and vegetables are antioxidants.A growing body of evidence suggests that LDL (“bad”) cholesterol damages arteries only when it has been oxidised (combined with oxygen). That’s why researchers believe that antioxidants like vitamin E may protect the heart.

• The energy in vegetables is in the form of complex carbohydrates. These take some time to digest and don’t cause the blood sugar highs and lows that sugars do. An exception to this rule is the sugar in beets or corn. (These sugars have a high glycemic index and trigger the insulin cycle.)