For some *not so* strange reason, green vegetables have been the subject of a witch-hunt over the past couple of decades, and are seen as almost a punishment to eat. However, we here at Clean Cut Meals feel that when vegetables are prepared properly, they can actually be delicious. If youâve ever ordered from us before â you may tend to agree. We are often told that if it werenât for our meals, vegetables wouldnât feature at all in our customersâ diets, and there are many reasons you should be working green vegetables into your diet!
1. THEY HELP BOOST YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM.
The majority of your immune receptors are located in your stomach â and therefore you need to ensure they have a healthy environment to actually work! Green vegetables play an important role in this â and substituting out unhealthy additives to your meals with organic leafy greens will aid your immune system and give it a huge boost, leading to you avoiding falling ill & ensuring you perform at your optimal level in whatever it is youâre doing!
2. THEY CONTAIN HIGH LEVELS OF FIBRE.
Fibre is a nutrient that many Irish adults are deficient in, and it is something that is a necessity for every healthy diet. There are a huge range of benefits associated with a high fibre diet â or at least one that clears your Recommended Daily Allowance. Studies have linked fibre with reducing blood pressure and inflammation. There are also connections between high fibre diets & weight management as high-fibre foods tend to be more filling than low fibre foods (something we certainly believe in here at Clean Cut Meals).
3. HELP FIGHT AGEING.
Vitamin K is omnipresent in leafy green vegetables, and itâs a vitamin that should certainly be as vital to your diet as the B Vitamins and Vitamin C are. Diets low in Vitamin K have been seen in studies to have a link to cardiovascular disease & bone fragility. A one-cup (250-mL) raw serving of any of the leafy greens has at least your daily requirement of K. Kale provides more than six times your needs alone. Adding in a one cup portion of leafy greens can help you stay young!
4. NATURAL ANTIOXIDANTS.
Your mammy was right â broccoli is good for you. In fact, almost all green vegetables could be deemed a âsuperfoodâ (which in our opinion is a term invented by the marketing teams of the entire health industry). Green vegetables contain antioxidants which will help mop up those free radicals we ingest, usually inadvertently, and aid us in feeling less sluggish & more energetic. We are keen meat-eaters here at Clean Cut Meals, but most people who eat a plant-based diet will attest to this!
5. HELP MANAGE YOUR WEIGHT BETTER.
Green vegetables are high volume, low calorie foods. What this means is that they fill you up, yet contain very little calories. In fact, the majority of those who track their calories donât even bother including what they consume from green vegetables in their overall calories. This means that you can eat more food for less calories. Adding green vegetables to your diet, and decreasing the size of your portions of rice or pasta will see you reach your weight goals a lot quicker.