Greens and their benefits

There are many different types of greens and vegetables that offer multiple benefits to people who consume them as a part of their regular diet. The main benefit is the components that are present in these green vegetables. These components include such things as vitamins and nutrients and offer different medical, energy and diet advantages. This article will list several important greens (green vegetables) and will list some of the most important advantages.

Before we go into these details, it is important to mention a few suggestions for selection, keeping and preparation of green vegetables. First of all, when you select different greens, make sure that you purchase only the fresh vegetables with fine green color. You should wash them as soon as you get home and then place them in a plastic bag. This will keep them fresh for longer period of time. It is usually suggested to use greens within 10 – 12 days after purchase.

When you decide to cook green vegetables as a part of some meal preparation, you should make sure that greens are completely clean. You should wash greens throughout in the lukewarm water until all mud, soil and other dirt is washed away. This may required several washes but at the end you will have clean greens that are ready to be cooked as a part of healthy meal.

There are many benefits that you can gain access when eating green vegetables. For example, there are many vitamins in green vegetables. Different vitamins help us in different ways. Let’s take vitamin E, for example. This vitamin is commonly found in many leafy green vegetables and is considered an antioxidant. One of the benefits of vitamin E is that is helps to safeguards our eyes from different diseases.

There are other benefits of green vegetables for our eyes. The recent study by Journal of Nutrition (in 2004) states that there is a possibility that leafy green vegetables (or simply greens) may prevent cataracts. The reason for this is the fact that it is possible that the substances in green vegetables may protect our eyes from ultraviolet light.

There are some studies that show that green vegetables could help to lower the risk of cancer. Let’s take the dark green vegetables. This group would usually include (but is not limited to) such greens as romaine lettuce, spinach, turnip greens, kale, and mustard greens. These greens contain magnesium and potassium that help in preventing blood pressure and blood sugar problems. Other components are beta-carotene, zeaxanthin and lutein - antioxidants that may help to prevent the early stages of cancer development.

One of the groups of greens that could help prevent cancer includes cruciferous vegetables. These are the greens that essentially belong to the cabbage family. These greens have several antioxidants that may help to keep the dangerous substances out of the body. There are some fruits that possess similar qualities. Kiwi would be one example. These are just few examples and there are many other types of greens with similar qualities.

There are other benefits from green vegetables. For example, some nutrients from greens can help in digestion. Some will protect your stomach from bad bacteria (like broccoli). Some will even keep your skin looking healthy and young. There are green vegetables that contain calcium for keeping your bones strong.

Deon Melchior is the Editor and Publisher of Article Click. For more FREE articles for your ezine and websites visit ArticleClick.com. Article Click is a free content article directory. This means that as a publisher you may reprint the articles that are included in our site, as long as the article is unedited and the author box is included with it's live hyperlinks.