Your mother always said, “eat your vegetables” and she was right – maybe in more ways than she knew. While you don’t have to go all veggie and become a strict vegetarian, one of the healthiest eating habits you can foster in your family is to eat more veggies. Learn why vegetables are good for you in 7 simple facts.
Check out my article about 3 Crucial Strategies to Get Support for A Healthy Lifestyle
7 Reasons Why Veggies are So Good For You
1. Vegetables are a Perfect Complement
They are low in fat and protein thus they are a perfect complement to animal protein foods. Make vegetables the centerpiece of your meals and let the other food groups accompany them. For many families, this may be a switch of mindset from meat and potatoes to potatoes and meat. The animal food is more of a garnish, adding flavor and nutrition to the medley of veggies and grains. Stir-fry is a good example. (Even better would be a combination of fish and vegetables). If you aren’t ready to relegate steak and meatloaf to second place, at least make them equal stars in the meal. With interesting and tasty vegetable dishes on the table (and a variety of starches), your family will gradually begin eating less meat.
2. Vegetables are Nutrient-dense
Vegetables pack a lot of nutrition into a minimum of calories. For a measly 35 calories, you can get a half cup of vegetables that contains a wide variety of vitamins, minerals, and health-building substances, called phytonutrients – not to mention a lot of flavor. Load up on legumes (the family of beans, peas, and lentils). Second, only to soy, legumes are the best plant source of proteins, fiber, and iron, in addition to being high in folate.
3. Veggies are a Dieter’s Best Partner
Vegetables get top billing on any diet because most are “free foods,” meaning you can eat an unlimited amount. Why this lean indulgence?
Because of a neat little biochemical quirk that only veggies enjoy: the body uses almost as many calories to digest veggies as there are in
vegetables in the first place. You’ll use up most of the 26 calories in a tomato just chewing, swallowing, and digesting it.
4. You can Fill Up for Less
Because of the fiber in vegetables, you get fuller faster; which is another reason why it’s nearly impossible to overeat veggies.
5. Variety, Variety, Variety
Let’s face it, diversity makes life interesting. Adults, at least, like different foods prepared different ways. Witness the diversity of ethnic restaurants in any large city. There are hundreds of different kinds of vegetables and even more ways to prepare them.
6. Vegetables Provide Complex Carbohydrates
The energy in veggies 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.)
7. Vegetables Contain Cancer-fighting Phytos
On paper, a nutrient analysis of vegetables may not look all that special. Sure, there are lots of nutrients in veggies, but most of these can also be found in other foods, such as fruits and grains. What you don’t see in the nutrition charts or on the package labels are the hundreds of valuable nutrients, called phytochemicals, found in plants that have as-yet untold health-promoting properties. New research, especially in the field of cancer, is showing that vegetables are nature’s best health foods.
Why Veggies Are So Good?
So now you know why veggies are so good for our overal health. If you need help to choose vegetables for your diet or create a healthy menu for your family, you can leave a comment below or send me an e-mail: anne.macnabb@gmail.com
