Because I talked about fruit in the last post, I think it only makes sense that I talk about the benefits of vegetables now. I will once again be going over the benefits of vegetables, how many veggies you should eat in a day, and how you can easily add vegetables to your daily diet.
So, the benefits of vegetables are pretty much endless, and eating different vegetables will change the benefits that you will see. So I will be going over the overall benefits, and then going over specific benefits. The overall benefits of eating vegetables are as follows:
- They are rich in Antioxidants and Phytochemicals that reduce chronic inflammation
- It helps reduce high blood pressure- They include potassium that helps cancel out sodium
- All vegetables include Fiber, which is good for gut and heart health
- A handful of vegetables have lutein and Zeaxanthin, which are both carotenoids that help improve your eye health, which is very helpful in today’s screen age
- Different vegetables also help your skin health, which I will talk about more when I talk about the specific benefits of them.
- Veggies include many cancer-fighting nutrients that can drastically reduce your risk of certain cancers
- Eating vegetables can improve your brain function, while also reducing your risk of Alzheimer’s and dementia
- They also include a lot of vitamin C, which improves your immune system
These are not all of the benefits, but these are some of the biggest ones. I will now talk about the specific benefits that certain vegetables give you.
- Spinach- A full cup has the daily reconmmended amount of Vitamin K, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Magnesium, Folate, Iron, calcium, and antioxidants
- Broccoli- The most popular vegetable for a reason, it has a ton of vitamin K and vitamin C.
- Beets- Contains a lot of potassium and Folate. Study showed that drinking beet juice significantly lowered blood pressure.
- Onions- Vitamins C, B6, and manganese make onions very good to eat. But they also include sulfer, which can help prevent cancer.
For a healthy diet, you should try to get 2-3 cups of vegetables in a day, and it is best if you switch them around a little bit, so you get benefits from all of them.
Now, most importantly, how am I supposed to get all of these in a day, especially at the dining hall. For me personally, I will get a breakfast with either a lot of fruit at the dining hall, or get an açaí bowl, both are good options to get fruit in for the day. My snacks in my room consist of fruit yogurt, apples, and apple sauce. Also. every time I go to the dining hall I take a piece of fruit to go, so I can snack on bananas or oranges later. For lunch and dinner, I will get a cup of whatever vegetable they have, even if I am not a fan of it, I force myself to eat it because the benefits are so good. If you are making your own meals, you can look online for healthy meals with vegetables and find a million different results, from beginner to difficult.
Talking about vitamins, I was wondering if there is a specific amount of fish oils you can consume. I was looking at an ad this week and I saw that fish oils can improve eye concentration and its health. But I was known to fish oil as a supplement for the elders. So I was questioning if there is a restriction in age or if is there a restriction on the amounts you should be taking at a certain age.