Healthy by Eating the Rainbow - Start With Green
It's not easy being green - if you're a vegetable, that is. Alpha Armor Review People are afraid of you. They don't know what to do with you, and so they avoid you. They whiz right by you in the produce aisle, en route to the bagged carrots and white potatoes. Well, I am here to speak for the greens and to encourage you to get to know them, for they have a lot to offer!
When it comes to eating nutritionally healthful foods, green is in. Whatever time of year, green vegetables are in abundance and are the top of the line choices for maximum nutrition and minimum calories. As a group, the green vegetables- and most importantly the leafy greens-are great sources of vitamins and minerals such as vitamins A, C, K, folate, iron, calcium, magnesium and potassium. They are also high in chlorophyll, the green pigment that makes them, well, green! Chlorophyll is chemically almost identical to our own blood, and provides a wonderful cleansing and deodorizing effect in our bodies. Green vegetables are also high in fiber, the good type of carbohydrate, and the one our American diets are sadly so deficient in. Got constipation? Go green! Upping your daily quota of greens is the quickest way to regular bowels and great skin. In fact, research suggests that by increasing our intake of fiber-rich green vegetables we have a better chance at warding off heart disease, cancer, obesity and diabetes.
Did you know that our distant ancestors ate around 6 pounds of leaves a day? You can be sure they got plenty of roughage and phytonutrients-plant chemicals that act as antioxidants, boosting the immune system, repairing damaged cells, managing inflammation and thwarting viruses and bacteria. "Phyto" means plant, and these nutrients are abundant in fruits and vegetables. As the nutritional powerhouses of the plant world, dark green leafy vegetables also supply substantial amounts of vitamin K. Normally thought of as the "clotting vitamin", vitamin K is more valuable to the body than that! Did you know that having adequate vitamin K levels not only ensures that your blood will clot properly, but also protects your bone health, reduces the plaques in your arteries that are responsible for arteriosclerosis, regulates inflammation and can prevent arthritis, and also plays a hand in preventing diabetes? And these are the vegetables that you have been avoiding all these years!
