Errr, I mean Eat Your Veggies!!
Your mother always said to eat your vegetables. What does this mean exactly? Can I just get a wedge of iceberg lettuce, throw some tomatoes in and smother it with creamy Italian dressing? That’s vegetables, right? Not exactly. In fact what I want to address here is dark green leafy vegetables specifically.
“Greens are the number one food you can eat regularly to help improve health” says Jill Nussinow, MS, RD, a culinary educator in Northern California and author of The Veggie Queen. That’s because they’re loaded with fiber, vitamins and minerals.
Yet Americans are still not eating the recommended daily requirements of vegetables.
The latest dietary guidelines call for us to get 5 to 13 servings of fruits and vegetables per day (2 ½ to 6 ½ cups per day) depending on your calorie intake. For example a person who needs 2000 calories a day to maintain their weight should be eating 9 servings or 4 ½ cups per day (2 cups of fruit and 2 ½ cups of vegetables). And by the way in this case more equals better.
There is strong research that supports the premise that a diet rich in fruits and vegetables can lower the risk of heart disease and stroke.
The largest and longest study to date was done by the Harvard-based Nurses’ Health Study and Health Professionals. This included 110,000 men and women whose health and dietary habits were followed for 14 years. The findings were that the higher the average daily intake the lower the chances of developing cardiovascular disease. And although all fruits and vegetables contribute, green leafy vegetables make very important contributions.
In another large report by the World Cancer Research Fund and American Institute for Cancer Research findings suggested that leafy greens and fruits “probably” protect against several types of cancers, including, mouth, throat, voice box, esophagus and stomach cancer.
Why aren’t you eating some veggies RIGHT NOW!!!!
Nussinow ranked the top 10 most widely-eaten greens from most nutritious to least. Here’s her top 10:
- Kale
- Collards
- Turnip Greens
- Swiss Chard
- Spinach
- Mustard Greens
- Broccoli
- Red and Green Leaf Romaine Lettuce
- Cabbage
- Iceberg Lettuce
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