Fruits and vegetables are the cornerstones of a healthy diet and the key to keeping your family healthy. But when competing with processed foods manufactured to leave adults and kids wanting more, it can be a hard sell. The benefits of eating fruits and vegetables are numerous, and they also taste great. Here are a few ways they will improve your family’s overall health.
Full of Fiber
One of the most important reasons to encourage your family to eat more vegetables is that they are full of fiber. Fiber is vital for good health in so many ways. First, fiber fills us up, which means we are less likely to overdo it when it comes to sugary or fatty snacks. Fiber also helps to keep the gut and digestive system moving which means it’s easier for our bodies to purge out waste.
In addition, fiber is helpful in combatting the risk of diabetes and it helps keep our hearts healthy too. The problem is that most people don’t eat enough fiber every day. With that in mind, make sure to include plenty of fibrous veggies in your family’s meals. Sweet potatoes are a great option that kids and adults will love. They can be eaten alone or in delicious savory or sweet recipes.
Lower the Risk of Heart Disease
Heart disease is what kills more Americans than any other condition. The good news is that including plenty of vegetables in your family’s diet can help combat this, as well as set them up to have good habits for the future.
Vegetables and a healthy diet are so important in the fight against heart disease because they contain fiber, and potassium, both of which your heart needs to stay healthy. A diet high in vegetables is also helpful because it can support staying in a healthy weight range, something that can help reduce the strain on your heart. When planning the family meals make sure to include a wide variety of vegetables. Tomatoes, avocados, and leafy greens are great for keeping your heart healthy.
Prevent Blood Clots
Another reason to boost the number of fruits and veggies in your family’s diet is that they can help to minimize the risk of blood clots. Indeed, blood clots can be a very serious situation with conditions such as pulmonary embolisms (blood clots in the lungs) often being fatal.
Of course, if you or a member of your family is at risk of such a condition you will first want to seek out the best pulmonary embolism specialist possible. However, in addition to finding a great pulmonary embolism doctor, making dietary changes may also help.
In particular, including more foods like citrus fruits and grapes in your diet can be useful. This is because citric fruits contain antioxidants that can help fight inflammation in the body. While red grapes are full of polyphenols which prevent platelets from adhering to one another and so making it harder to form clots.
Lower the Risk of Cancer
While no food can protect you from cancer 100%, vegetables contain some of the most critical nutrients that may help to protect your body. When it comes to protecting your body from carcinogens, all vegetables will help, but more variety is the key. In particular, cruciferous vegetables such as cauliflower, broccoli, and brussels sprouts are a good choice here because they have high levels of folate, potassium, phytochemicals, and vitamin C. All of which could help to protect your cells.
You can make a salad from roasted brussels sprouts or add broccoli to your kids’ mac and cheese. Cauliflower rice and buffalo cauliflower wings are also great healthy alternatives that are tasty and filling. not make salads from roasted brussels sprouts for the kids? Use baby sprouts which are sweet and delicious or a portion of cauliflower cheese for a weekday meal?
Help Maintain Brain Function
Your brain needs all sorts of nutrients such as folates and antioxidants to stay functioning effectively over the long term and to ward off any risks of degenerative conditions like dementia. Happily, you can find these nutrients in leafy greens such as kale, cabbage, and spinach.
Use spinach as a replacement for lettuce in salads, or try massaging kale with olive oil to make it soft enough to eat raw in salads or slaws.
Boost Your Immune System
Vitamin C is an essential nutrient for a healthy immune system. Although, while a yummy orange is a great treat from time to time, a less sugary way of topping up your body’s supply of vitamin C is to get it from vegetables such as bell peppers and broccoli.
Fortunately, bell peppers make amazing crudites to eat with homemade healthy dips, and broccoli is delicious added to pasta dishes, shredded in salads, and even stir-fried with a little garlic. The kids won’t be able to resist, and you’ll know that you are taking care of their health with every bite.
