Why You Should Add Green To Your Diet Today!
Why You Should Add Green To Your Diet Today!
The number one thing you can do today to improve your health and boost your energy is eat leafy greens. This simple act has powerful implications.
In his book, Integrative Nutrition, author Joshua Rosenthal describes it this way: “Greens help build our internal rainforest and strengthen our circulatory and respiratory system.” He goes on to say that the color green aligns with spring, “a time of renewal, refreshment, and vital energy.”
Indeed, the list of beneficial properties offered by greens is long and includes everything from improving circulation and liver function to strengthening the immune system, clearing congestion, and promoting healthy gut flora.
Greens provide a whole host of valuable nutrients, micronutrients, and phytonutrients such as:
- Calcium
- Magnesium
- Iron
- Potassium
- Phosphorous
- Zinc
- Vitamins A, C, and K
- Fiber
- Folate
- Chlorophyll
Chlorophyll (found in all green vegetables) is a powerful blood builder akin to liquid oxygen! If you are trying to get pregnant, you can benefit from the high folate content in greens. And if you need to increase your calcium intake, leafy greens beat milk because they don’t put the body into an acidic state the way dairy does. Greens with significant amounts of calcium include cooked beet greens, kale, dandelion greens, collards, parsley, turnip greens, and watercress. (An interesting aside: the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates, who said “let food be thy medicine,” relied so heavily on the healing powers of watercress that he built his first hospital next to a stream so he could grow it.)
Other greens to rotate into your diet include spinach, cabbage, bok choy, broccoli, and broccoli rabe.
Read also: 5 Easy Ways To Eat More Greens
Dana Dinnawi is an Integrative Nutrition health coach specializing in empowering women to improve their health and family life. She received her training from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, where she studied more than one hundred dietary theories and a variety of practical lifestyle coaching methods. She can be reached through her website and Facebook page.
