Get Your Leafy Greens On!

Green leafy vegetables are the Rock Stars of the vegetable kingdom! Now hear me when I say this – ALL vegetables are good!  Eat the rainbow! But green leafys are the superstars because per calorie they have the most vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals, antioxidants and fiber than any other vegetable. 

More bang for your buck, as they say. 

So much so, that at the last 2 wellness conferences that I attended, there were speakers/experts who said the same thing: it’s more important to add green leafy vegetables to our diet than it is to take away junk food!  My jaw dropped!  WHAT?? You have to take away the junk food for better health!  Yes, of course we do, but what they’re saying is that green leafys do more good for the body than junk food does bad.  Wow!

Ok, so what is on this green leafy list?

·      Kale (of course)

·      Collards

·      Broccoli

·      Parsley – basil, mint, rosemary, sage, dill, oregano, thyme

·      Bok Choy

·      Chard

·      Arugula

·      Romaine – red leaf, green leaf, butter leaf– etc

·      Spinach

So how do we get more in our day?

1.        Pick one you already eat and eat more of it more often

2.        Pick one you’re not familiar with and chop it up really, really, really small and add it to what you’re already doing: soup, salad, sauté, casserole, smoothie

3.        If you’re making a sandwich for work, make it a Dagwood Sandwich, piled high with Romaine, sprouts and other sandwichy veggies.

So next time you’re shopping at your local grocery store, farmer’s market or produce stand, start snapping your fingers and repeating the mantra – “Get my leafy greens on!”