Eat Your Greens!

Leafy greens.

Hippie food, rabbit food, its called many different things.

I call it for what it is: a superfood.  Superfood is something that is more nutrient dense calorie for calorie than a regular food.  Being one of the most least expensive and most abundant types of foods, leafy greens are mostly avoided.  We have become addicted to the "great flavors" of processed foods.  There is a wide diversity of tastes and flavors of every green, none taste the same. Peppery arugula, buttery smooth bibb, crispy romaine, bitter kale or spinach just tastes "green".

The fastest way to improve your health is organic leafy greens, they are life supporting, health inducing, nutrient-packed edibles, that should take up most of our plates at every meal. Eat them or drink them everyday.

A general rule for nutritional value is the darker the more nutritious.  Lettuces are mostly water and very low in calories.  Dark greens such as spinach, collard, kale, radicchio and Swiss chard are rich in minerals such as calcium, iron, magnesium.  They are loaded with anti-oxidants which help our cells combat environmental stressors and toxins. Cruciferous greens, such as cabbage, broccoli rabe are full of fiber, phytochemicals which are good for our digestion and helps feed our gut bacteria.  There many wild greens (Eating Weeds) that you can find in your backyard and by foraging the countryside. Dandelion and Purslane are the most common.  Just make sure you are confident in identification of anything wild and have not been recently sprayed with herbicides.

Here are some health benefits from consuming leafy greens:

*Dark leafy greens give our bodies Folate: Folate describes the B vitamin which is essential in amino acid production and cell division.

*Dark leafy greens burn fats: even though they are a low calorie, weight loss food they contain nitrates which convert white fat cells into brown fat cells. This creates extra fat-burning and ultimately weight loss.

*Dark leafy greens are anti-aging: vitamin k, beta-carotene and lutein influence anti-aging.

*Dark leafy greens are heart healthy: greens regulate the production of a hormone called erythroproietin which decreases blood viscosity which in turn reduces blood clots and heart attacks.

*Dark leafy greens fight diabetes: magnesium, ALA omega 3 fatty acids and polyphenols found in greens manage glycemic load and insulin sensitivity.

Dark leafy greens feed your gut: the high fiber content greens provide substrates for our guts microbes to digest and create healthy gut biomes.

Dark leafy greens build enzymes: raw foods have the most alive and active enzymes, which promote cellular detoxification.

Do not overeat just one type of green ( or any food), for example: some greens bind calcium so your body has trouble absorbing it.  

Eat a variety of dark leafy greens and you'll reap all of the positive health benefits!

Greens are the real secret of a healthy diet and are pure medicine.

Go make a "Big Ass Salad" with nuts, seeds and raw veggies.

Food for Thought

Have a great week.

Be kind.

Judd