5 Reasons Why You Need To Eat Greens Everyday

5 reasons why you need more greens in your diet

Getting more green vegetables into your diet is a great way to improve your overall health and wellbeing. Green vegetables are nutritionally dense and loaded with vitamins and minerals essential to good health. We love adding them to salads, soups, curries, smoothies, dips snacking on them raw, or lightly steamed. 

Here's 5 reasons why you need more green vegetables in your diet: 

1. They’re affordable

Greens are a very affordable source of so many important nutrients. They’re available in every supermarket, green grocer or farmers market and they grow all year round (in different varieties). Take Spinach for example. You can pick up a bag of organic spinach for around $3. It's an excellent source of iron and it goes in just about everything! Fresh salads, green smoothies, berry and spinach smoothies, sautéed spinach with poached eggs, and stirred into bolognaise sauce. Now that's value for money! 

2. Chlorophyll

All green plants contain chlorophyll, so it’s easy to know when you’re getting a dose of it. In our bodies, chlorophyll improves our blood by assisting haemoglobin to do its job. Haemoglobin in our blood works to carry oxygen from our lungs to the rest of our bodies. It helps to boost our energy levels and increase overall wellbeing. Unless you’re eating your greens, your blood isn’t able to function efficiently. 

3. Vitamin A

Vitamin A plays an essential role in our bodies to maintain healthy skin, good eyesight (particularly at night) and growth in kids. It assists with normal bone growth, the health of mucous membranes and immune system function. Vitamin A also acts as an antioxidant, which research has shown may reduce the risk of certain cancers. Green leafy vegetables are a great source of Vitamin A. Try Kale, Broccoli, Spinach, Romaine Lettuce, Green capsicums. And when you’re stressed out, your bodies’ demand for Vitamin A increases.

4. Iron

Green vegetables are so nutrient dense that it’s hard to choose just 5 reasons why we should eat them everyday. However, iron is definitely on the list! Like chlorophyll, iron is needed to make haemoglobin, the component of red blood cells which carry oxygen. These cells circulate around our bodies delivering oxygen to every tissue and organ in the body to enable us to concentrate, remember and learn new things. Iron is essential for kids who are learning new things every day. New studies have shown that being even mildly iron-deficient can affect kids’ learning ability, memory and attention span. And it’s the most common nutrient deficiency in Australian children. So eat your greens. Greens are a good way to ensure you’re getting enough iron, especially as many green leafy vegetables are also high in vitamin C, which improves your bodies’ ability to absorb iron.

5. They’re versatile.

You can incorporate greens in your breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. There are many different types of vegetables available so there’s no excuse that you’re sick of boring broccoli. (sorry broccoli.)

Here are some green meal ideas:
Zucchini Pasta
Spinach, egg and avocado salad
Green smoothies 

How do you like your greens? Share your tips for getting more green into your life in the comments below!