SPINACH, KALE AND OTHER GREEN, LEAFY GOODNESS

We’ve all read about how we should eat more dark green, leafy vegetables, but why? What makes these particular vegetables so good and what benefits do they give to us?

Firstly, there are many vegetables that fit into this leafy and green category so even if you’re a picky eater there should be one or two that you’ll like. Some of the most popular ones are: kale, broccoli, spinach and cabbage.

These types of veggies are packed with vitamins and minerals and so, are vital for many functions within the body. Green, leafy veg are a great source of vitamin K which is an important component needed for blood clotting and therefore it is involved in the healing of wounds. Pantothenic acid (a type of B vitamin) is obtained from broccoli amongst other foods. Pantothenic acid is involved in releasing energy from the foods that we eat and fat metabolism – this is the breaking down of fats for use within the body.

The green colour of these vegetables are from chlorophyll (which I mentioned in an earlier blog post). You probably remember learning about chlorophyll at school and its role in photosynthesis. But it also has benefits for our body such as its great antioxidant properties which protect against free radical damage. It’s crazy to think that even the substance that gives food its colour can be utilised by our body, clever huh?

I know that eating a bowl full of cabbage doesn’t sound like the most appetising meal but there are many ways to incorporate green veggies into your daily diet. It’s easy to add some lettuce to the sandwich that you’re making for work or to mix some spinach into pasta when its hot (spinach wilts really easily and it decreases in size dramatically when wilted, so much so that a handful of spinach will turn into almost nothing!). Adding dark green, leafy vegetables really is a quick and easy addition that you can make to a lot of your normal meals. Give it a go, it’s good for you!