Take a look at smart-eating plans or diets. Leafy greens like spinach, broccoli, kale, and cabbage are usually on the list of foods you should eat.
Mediterranean diet, check. Paleo diet, check. Keto diet, check. DASH diet, check.
Plus, recipes for leafy-green salads, smoothies, and side dishes are everywhere.
Why? Because leafy greens are good for you.
They’re packed with vitamins and nutrients. They’re low in calories. They’re affordable (unlike some diets that require buying expensive products).
You can add leafy greens to your diet with little to no prep time. And studies show leafy greens provide important health benefits such as: (1)
- Reduce the risk for a heart attack or stroke
- Lower the risk for type 2 diabetes
- Control blood pressure
- Improve bone health
- Lower cholesterol
- Reduce inflammation
- Prevent certain types of cancer
- Improve bowel health
- Control hunger and aid in weight management
- Prevent age-related memory loss
Are you eating enough leafy greens?
Probably not. Most adults don’t eat enough leafy greens and other vegetables. In fact only 10 percent do. (2)
If you want to change your eating habits, improve your health, and feel better, eating more leafy greens can help.
The goal: Eat 2 to 3 cups of vegetables per day, including leafy greens, like: (3)
- Kale
- Collard greens
- Spinach
- Cabbage
- Beet greens
- Watercress
- Romaine Lettuce
- Swiss chard
- Arugula
- Endive
- Bok choy
- Turnip greens
9 easy ways to eat more leafy greens
Hungry for ways to eat healthier? Eating more leafy greens doesn’t have to be hard.
Check out these 9 easy ways to add more “green” to your diet.
- Build a bowl – Add leafy greens to a burrito bowl.
- Pizza topping – Use spinach as a topping for thin-crust pizza.
- Breakfast of champions – Cook eggs or egg-whites with arugula
- Splendid blended – Make a green smoothie with fruits and vegetables, including leafy greens
- Dress up noodles – Add Bok choy to noodles
- Soup’s on – Make soup that includes leafy greens
- Munch n’ crunch – Bake your own kale chips
- Dip it – Add spinach to homemade hummus
- The classic – Eat more leafy-green salads
Want to be healthier, feel better, and live longer? Eat more leafy greens.
References
- Wang, D., et al. (2021). Fruit and vegetable intake and mortality: Results from 2 prospective cohort studies of U.S. men and women and a meta-analysis of 26 cohort studies. Circulation, 143:00-00. From: https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.120.048996
- Lee, S.H., et al. (2022). Adults meeting fruit and vegetable intake recommendations — United States, 2019. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 71(1): 1-9. From: https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/mm7101a1.htm
- U.S. Department of Agriculture. (2021). Vegetables. MyPlate. From: https://www.myplate.gov/eat-healthy/vegetables