Chapter 6: The Health Benefits of Eating Vegetables
Vegetables are one of the most under-sung foods in existence, especially when it comes to the standard American diet. Most people don’t realize just how important it is to provide the body with the vitamins and minerals that vegetables and vegetables alone can provide. Sometimes, people will look into vegetables as a way of improving their beauty, but when it comes to improving their health, they become somewhat disinterested.
However, now that you are here and reading this book, it is safe to assume that you are willing and able to take into consideration why it is important to eat vegetables. Here are some of the best reasons to provide yourself with vegetables daily as a part of your diet.
First of all, the body needs fiber in order to get rid of excess waste. Without a way to find the waste together and eliminated, it stays stuck in the body and can contribute to weight gain and other potential complications. Fiber is extremely important for other reasons as well. It can help you to prevent your blood cholesterol from raising and can even prevent heart disease, or at least lower the chances of suffering from it.
Folic acid it is also present in vegetables, and when you are providing your body with this substance, it can generate the production of your red blood cells. This can be very important in helping you to prevent anemia from occurring, and can be very beneficial to women in particular, who have a tendency to need this substance during pregnancy and menstruation.
Vegetables are also naturally high in many vitamins, such as a and C, which are helpful in fighting infection and keeping the body healthy. It can help you to speed up the healing process and to absorb iron, which is another way of helping to combat and prevent anemia from occurring. Vitamins are high in potassium and this is very useful because it prevents the body from succumbing to high blood pressure.
Vegetables have been proven to reduce the risk of strokes and other heart related complications. They can prevent kidney stones from developing and prevent the disintegration of bone matter. Filling yourself up on vegetables is a good way to help you to manage type II diabetes and obesity. Not only that, but it can help you to stay strong in a fight against cancer and in cancer prevention.
Perhaps one of the most redeeming qualities about eating vegetables is the fact that they are very low in fat and are definitely not calorie dense. This means that you can eat as many vegetables as you want to without having to worry too much about gaining weight. Snacking on vegetables is a great way to help you to reduce hunger cravings and to stay focused on a healthy lifestyle.
There are so many great things about vegetables. It is surprising that they are so rare to come by in the standard American diet. One of the best ways that you can help yourself in avoiding high fat and high sugar and high salt processed foods is in walking around the outside of your grocery store first. Go along the fresh produce section so that you are making conscious choices in providing your body with healthy fresh vegetable options rather than skipping to the end and cheating by buying pastas and other processed foods that are low in genuinely nutritious vegetable content.
Healthy eating starts with making the choices to nourish your body, and there are few things more nourishing than vegetables. We can often lose our taste for healthy foods because of unhealthy and poor eating habits early in life, or even self-imposed later in life, but it is easy to get back on track. Make time in your life for vegetables. They may take a little bit longer to prepare, but the benefits are worth it.