Why do you need so much greens?
It has long been known that we should eat our vegetables. From day one this was beaten into our heads. “Eat your vegetables, they are good for you!” asserted our mothers. We heard it often, we ate them when we absolutely had to, but when we had our druthers spinach and broccoli were quickly replaced by Green Apple Jolly Ranchers and Candy Corns. For most of us, we never ended up reincorporated a steady dose of green vegetables into our diets; to our own detriment. They just While we have always known that green vegetables are very healthy for us and a diet rich in greens will benefit our health; only in the last few decades has overwhelming research emerged as to just how good they really are. Studies have now shown in no uncertain terms that eating plenty of green veggies markedly reduces cancer risk, boosts immunity, reduces inflammation, improves digestion, reduces coronary disease and fights obesity; just to name a few. New research has now even shown that greens are a boon to the athletic community as well in that they measurably enhance performance by balancing the body’s PH and greatly reducing recovery time, fighting fatigue, and increasing energy. Dr. William Castelli, a leading expert in cardiovascular disease was quoted as saying; “Vegetarians have the best diet. They have the lowest rates of coronary disease of any group in the country....they have a fraction of our heart attack rate and they have only 40 percent of our cancer rate. They outlive other men by about six years.” It now appears that ALL of the functions of the body are supported with a quality supplement of the nutrients in green veggies.
As it was, knowing that we should eat greens was never the problem; but with the contentions we have heard since childhood now solidly backed-up and even enhanced by hard scientific data as to how beneficial they actually are, hopefully this is sufficient to rattle our cages enough to take action. The next hurdle is the relative difficulty and cost of getting these greens in our system. You can’t go through a drive-thru at KFC and order three cups of organic kale, a batch of steamed asparagus with broccoli. Further, vegetables aren’t cheap! The government subsidizes corn, wheat, beef
and milk; not spinach, broccoli and lettuce. So a double cheeseburger or a 24oz soda packed with high fructose corn syrup costs us $1.00, but a small batch of asparagus is over $3.00. So for most of us and our busy lives, eating enough veggies is much easier said than done! So what can we do to get them? We know they can be a life changer, we know we will feel better, look better and live longer if we eat them, so what’s the easiest way to do it? Here are a few ways to make getting your veggies easier and cheaper:
- Cook a batch once a week – Veggies steam easily and last for days in the fridge. So cook multiple servings at once. This will drastically cut down your time in the kitchen and also make greens readily available to eat at any time.
- Check out your local farmer’s market – Farmer’s markets generally have vegetables (and other goodies) at a fraction of the cost of your local grocery store. Further, the offerings at the markets are generally locally grown, fresher and healthier than those at the standard grocery store. Hit a farmer’s market once a week and stock up on your veggies for the whole week.
- Get a good green super food supplement – Health food stores now sell some highly-concentrated all-greens supplements that can be taken quickly, easily, and surprisingly cheap! Invest in a good powdered greens supplement. Be sure the supplement you choose has quality ingredients in amounts that matter and also has no soy lecithin fillers, which is used as a cheap filler to save costs. Cytogreens, a premium green super food product offering from Novaforme is an amazingly potent and delicious green super food that truly covers all bases for an exceptional greens supplement.
With what we know now about what a diet including steady greens will do for our health and our lives, we would be foolish not to do whatever it takes to add plenty of greens to our diets. It’s not the easiest or most delicious food option, but it’s something that will noticeably improve our lives.
