Apart from their natural good taste and great crunchy texture, wonderful colors and fragrances, eating a large serving of fresh, raw vegetables each day can have significant health benefits.
Your leafy greens and raw veggies are a superb source of natural fiber. Consuming enough fiber each day has several health advantages –
• Fiber helps to reduce LDL or “bad” cholesterol.
• It helps to control blood sugar.
• Adequate fiber intake helps with weight loss and healthy weight maintenance.
• It normalizes bowel movements, and aids in the prevention of bowel disease.
• Proper fiber intake has been shown to reduce the recurrence and prevention of a number of cancers including colorectal, breast, mouth, throat and esophagus.
A diet rich in vegetables and fruits can lower blood pressure.
It reduces risk of heart disease and stroke, prevents some types of cancer.
It is also known to lower risk of eye and digestive problems, and have a positive effect upon blood sugar which can help keep appetite in check.
It’s important to eat a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables, in as many different colors as possible.
Combining them in a salad is both easy and delicious!
Loaded with vitamins and minerals, eating a salad a day will also increase the level of powerful antioxidants in your blood.
The basis of any salad, leafy greens, offer a huge nutritional benefit.
Among the best of the super greens group are: kale, spinach, beet greens, watercress and Romaine lettuce.
Eating a fiber-rich salad before your entree will help you to feel full faster, so you’ll consume less calories.
If you dress your salad with a little olive oil, there may even be some additional years in it for you.
Italian research on people aged 60 and older has suggested that a diet that includes plenty of olive oil and raw vegetables is linked to reduced mortality.
So eat salads and stay fit!
