Pretty much everyone knows that if they want to enjoy great health, they need to eat a diet that's rich in fresh produce like fruits and vegetables. When your mom told you to eat your veggies, she was doing so for a reason. The right vegetables in your diet can do everything from preventing chronic disease to limiting your chances of obesity.
The only problem is that today, most of us don't have the time or creativity we need to get enough vegetables into our diet. In a fast-paced society where speed and convenience often comes before nutrition, we prefer to grab meals that are quick to prepare, and slow to digest. Fortunately, there could be a simple solution. Juicing.
Why Juicing Vegetables Works
Although juicing vegetables won't necessarily give you the fiber boost that you'd get from eating produce whole, it will give you a dose of vitamins and minerals that can be instantly and easily absorbed into your system. These nutrients can keep you full longer, repair damaged cells in the body, and ensure that your metabolism is running smoothly to burn excess fat. There are plenty of juicing recipes that use fruits and vegetables to burn calories.
Juicing shouldn't be used as a replacement for eating fresh fruits and vegetables. However, it can be a solution for getting more of the nutrients that vegetables offer into your system, without piling your plate high at every meal. It's a win, win!
Here are some reasons that vegetables can help you to lose weight and live longer – regardless of whether you juice for nutrition, or to simply change your diet plan.
1. Vegetables Can Keep You Full
The water and digestive enzymes in vegetables can help fill you up in a way that is more sustainable and efficient than constantly consuming processed carbs. Combining your vegetable intake with regular doses of proteins and healthy fats will help keep you satisfied until your next meal. Drinking a glass of vegetable juice is far more satisfying for your body than raiding the workplace vending machines. We've all been there.
2. Vegetables Keep Energy Levels Constant
Have you ever wondered why, at certain times of the day, you're more likely to crave sugar and salty things than you would be at other times? The nutrients in vegetables can help to regulate your blood sugar, which means that you won't be constantly dipping up and down. When you eat refined foods and carbs, you're more likely to feel a sudden dip during the afternoon when your body tells you it needs more sugar for energy. This means fewer unhealthy cravings!
3. Vegetables Help You Live Longer
Various studies indicate that a vegetable rich diet can reduce the potential for hardening arteries, high cholesterol levels, and excess inflammation. That means a simple glass of vegetable juice, or more portions of veggies in your daily diet could be enough to fight off numerous health conditions. Like heart disease, diabetes, and even Alzheimer's! This is because vegetables are rich in antioxidants like vitamin C, E, plus carotenoids and selenium.
Remember Non-Starchy Vegetables Are The Best for Limiting Calories
Just because vegetables are healthy doesn’t mean that you can eat them all the time and still lose weight. Usually, non-starchy vegetables are the lowest in calories, which make them the perfect options for those trying to lose weight. Filling your diet with non-starchy solutions like kale, broccoli, spinach, carrots, cauliflower, celery, or even beets. They can give you the energy and metabolic boost you need!
While all vegetables that are low in starch are great for your diet and juicing plan, some are more powerful than others. For instance, raw leafy greens like lettuce, kale, and spinach come with fewer than 10 calories per cup. This means that you can eat a ton of it without having to worry about a bulging stomach!
I love eating vegetables and decided after having high blood pressure, high cholesterol, etc. to start eating a vegetarian diet the end of last year. My numbers have improved tremendously. So I am an advocate for more veggies in the diet!
Oh wow, that’s a big change! However, as you have already experiences, it’s well worth it!
My husband and I started gardening and preserving just for this reason
Good for you! Canning is one of my favorite ways to preserve those veggies!
I used to never eat veggies, but I started focusing on a balanced diet and working out when I was a teenager. I include them in every meal now. It always helps fill me up
It feels great when you turn something healthy into a habit that becomes second nature, doesn’t it? Good for you!
I love vegetables, especially summer vegetables. Thank you for sharing these tips.
Summer vegetables are the best. Glad you found them useful!
I’ve been wanting to cut down on my meat intake and eat more vegetables.
It can be a little hard at first but it gets easier pretty quickly. You will feel amazing too.
love all the reasons I should eat my veggies
I like this post. I knew some of what you wrote. But learned more.
I’m glad you learned something! Thank you for visiting 🙂